CMOs are under pressure to generate pipeline faster, demonstrate ROI earlier, and better align marketing with sales outcomes. One often overlooked lever can materially accelerate this process: editorial credibility. When your brand appears in trusted third-party publications through interviews, expert commentary, or thought leadership, it reduces scepticism before the sales process even begins. Here are five ways editorial credibility helps shorten B2B sales cycles.

1. It Builds Trust Before the First Sales Conversation

Modern B2B buyers conduct extensive research before ever speaking to sales. By the time a prospect books a meeting, they have already searched your company, compared competitors, reviewed leadership profiles, and consumed relevant content. If they encounter credible editorial coverage during that research process, your brand is positioned as a recognised authority rather than just another vendor. This shifts the starting point of the sales conversation. Instead of proving legitimacy, you can focus on solving problems. The discussion begins with curiosity and confidence, not doubt, which reduces early-stage friction and speeds up progression.

2. It Elevates the Level of Sales Conversations

Sales cycles often stall because conversations remain too focused on product features, comparisons, and pricing. Editorial credibility changes the altitude of the dialogue. When your leadership team is visible discussing industry trends, transformation challenges, or market developments in respected publications, prospects approach you as a strategic partner. The conversation moves beyond “What do you sell?” toward “How do you see this market evolving?” Strategic discussions engage senior decision-makers earlier in the process, and when executive stakeholders are involved sooner, decisions tend to move more quickly.

3. It Reduces Friction Within Buying Committees

Most B2B purchasing decisions involve multiple stakeholders, often across different departments. Even when an internal champion supports your solution, others may hesitate. Editorial credibility provides independent validation that helps reduce that hesitation. When stakeholders see that your company has been featured in credible industry media, it reinforces legitimacy and stability. Internal advocates can reference third-party recognition rather than relying solely on sales decks or marketing materials. This external validation strengthens consensus and shortens internal debate cycles, helping deals move forward faster.

4. It Improves Nurture and Retargeting Performance

Editorial credibility does more than improve perception; it also enhances marketing performance. Prospects who first encounter your brand in a trusted editorial environment are more likely to engage with retargeting ads, open follow-up emails, interact with LinkedIn content, and register for webinars. Credibility lowers psychological resistance. When paid campaigns support established authority rather than attempt to create it from scratch, conversion rates typically improve. This alignment between editorial visibility and performance marketing warms the pipeline and reduces time-to-decision.

5. It Accelerates Executive-Level Approval

In enterprise sales, final approval often rests with senior executives such as the CFO or CEO. These leaders may not analyse every product detail, but they assess reputation, leadership visibility, and market positioning. Editorial credibility provides reassurance at this stage. When executive teams are seen contributing thoughtful insights in respected business publications, it signals maturity and strategic depth. That perception can significantly shorten the final approval phase, which is often the longest and most cautious stage of the sales cycle.

The Strategic Opportunity for CMOs

Many marketing teams treat editorial exposure as a brand exercise rather than a commercial one. In reality, it is a sales accelerator. When used strategically, editorial credibility builds trust early, elevates positioning, strengthens internal advocacy, improves nurture performance, and speeds executive approvals.

In uncertain markets, shortening sales cycles is not about increasing pressure. It is about reducing friction. Trust reduces friction. And editorial credibility is one of the most effective ways to build that trust at scale.

The post 5 Ways Editorial Credibility Shortens Sales Cycles in B2B appeared first on The European Business Review.

In 2026, you can walk into just about any business school admissions event, and you’ll hear the same anxious question: “With AI automating so much of business, is an MBA still worth it?” It’s a fair concern, as AI now drafts financial models, generates market research, and even simulates customer conversations.

This question seems to assume that the primary value of an MBA lies in technical or analytical output. The deeper issue is not what AI can do, but what remains distinctly human inside modern organisations. While intelligent systems take over more structured tasks, the comparative advantage of human professionals shifts toward the capabilities machines struggle to replicate.

Emotional Intelligence: Why Soft Skills Matter in the Age of AI

Perhaps nowhere is the gap between AI and human capability more pronounced than in emotional intelligence. While AI can now simulate empathetic responses and even monitor team sentiment in workplace communications, it remains fundamentally incapable of genuine human connection or actual empathy.

A 2025 Workday study revealed a disconnect: 82% of individual contributors believe employees will increasingly crave human connection as AI becomes more integrated into work, but only 65% of managers share that view. This gap suggests many leaders may be underestimating the emotional and relational impact of AI on their teams.

MBA programs develop leadership, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills through intensive group work, leadership simulations, and real-world consulting projects where students must navigate team dynamics, resolve conflicts, and motivate diverse groups toward common goals.

While the exercise took place a few years ago, critical, creative, and strategic thinking remain domains where human training and experience still seem to outperform current AI systems.

Consider the reality of leading through organizational change: a merger, restructuring, or strategic pivot. AI can model the financial implications and even predict employee attrition risks. But when it’s time to stand in front of anxious employees and communicate a difficult decision while maintaining trust, purpose, and morale? That requires emotional intelligence that no algorithm can provide.

As one Fast Company analysis put it: AI can handle the “what” and “how” of work, but only real leaders can handle the “why” Fast Company. In the age of AI, softer skills might matter more than ever.

AI Falls Short with Strategic Thinking

Beyond emotional intelligence, MBA programmes are designed to cultivate strategic judgment in complex, real-world situations, an area where AI still shows clear limitations. In a strategy exercise reported in September 2024 and attributed to the WU Executive Academy, 21 MBA students were asked to tackle an entrepreneurial challenge alongside ChatGPT.

The task centred on a small company with a strong innovation but no effective means of protecting it from larger competitors. Participants were required to develop viable strategic responses under real-world constraints. While the MBA students submitted their solutions once, ChatGPT was reportedly given multiple attempts to refine its answers.

According to the evaluation described in the article, the outcome was unambiguous. All 21 MBA students outperformed ChatGPT across every assessment criterion used. The students’ strategies were judged to be more situation-specific, more realistic, and better grounded in practical business judgment. In contrast, ChatGPT’s responses tended to remain generic, lacking the contextual sensitivity required to address the company’s strategic dilemma effectively.

While the exercise took place a few years ago, critical, creative, and strategic thinking remain domains where human training and experience still seem to outperform current AI systems.

On top of that, an MBA still carries a brand value that AI is unlikely to replace any time soon. The degree continues to act as a widely recognised proxy for leadership potential, analytical discipline, and professional networks.

Who Benefits From an MBA in the Age of AI

While an MBA is the elite diploma when it comes to strategy, leadership, organisational skills and emotional intelligence in a business context, an MBA is not universally valuable or profitable in an AI-driven economy.

An MBA can often be a weak investment for individuals seeking:

• Pure technical execution roles
• Narrow functional specialisation
• For professionals who need rapid credentialing for short-term employability

An MBA does remain a strong investment for individuals aiming to:

• Lead complex organisations
• Make high-stakes decisions under uncertainty
• Integrate technology, people, purpose, and strategy
• Assume responsibility for outcomes rather than outputs

AI reduces the scarcity of information and execution capacity. It increases the need for human judgment, strategy and emotional leadership. The MBA’s relevance in 2026 lies entirely in serving the latter.

Does AI Render Technical MBAs Unnecessary?

If you’re in a technical field, considering an MBA, the question of whether an MBA is worth it, can seem even more pressing. If AI can write code and analyze data faster than humans, why invest six figures in a technical business education?

The concerns are obviously not unfounded. Entry-level hiring at the 15 biggest tech firms fell 25 percent from 2023 to 2024, also targeting the roles relevant to many technical MBA graduates. AI’s progression is such that after every seven months or so, it is able to complete tasks that took twice as long before. On a coding project, AI can do in minutes what used to take an hour.

A technical MBA doesn’t primarily train graduates to write better code – AI already does that better and definitely faster. Instead, these programs develop the ability to bridge technological capability and business value. A technical MBA is still valuable if your goal is not to compete with AI on execution, but to operate with it and above it. In an AI-intensive economy, advantage shifts from doing the work to deciding, directing, and integrating the work. And that is the layer where good technical MBAs operate.

Microcredentials and Continuous Upskilling

People looking for short-term employability might be better off upskilling with microcredentials. Certificates in STEM fields like business analytics, data, and AI are a growing trend within business education. This happens as the internet and online teaching is complementing classic degree structures with more flexible, modular, and personalized learning paths, at a fraction of the (time and opportunity) cost.

Microcredentials aren’t peripheral offerings. According to Coursera’s 2025 Micro-Credentials Impact Report, 96% of employers agree that microcredentials strengthen a candidate’s job application, while 94% of students say microcredentials fast-track skill development. Perhaps most tellingly, 87% of employers have hired at least one candidate with a micro-credential in the past year.

What makes microcredentials so attractive is their alignment with the velocity of technological change. They allow professionals to update specific competencies without committing to multi-year programmes, making them particularly suited for rapidly evolving domains such as AI tooling, data infrastructure, automation workflows, and applied analytics.

However, microcredentials primarily address what you know and what you can do. They are less effective at developing how you think, how you decide, and how you lead. This distinction is critical when comparing them to MBA education.

At the same time, MBAs have an answer to that. MBA programmes are inherently designed around continuous adaptation – decision-making models, strategic reasoning, and leadership capacity remain relevant even as technologies change. At the same time, an increasing number of MBAs are offering continuous upskilling, rather than “only” a one-time diploma.

Is an MBA Worth It in the Age of AI?

Whether an MBA is worth it in 2026, in an increasingly AI-driven economy, will always be case dependent.

AI is steadily eroding the premium once attached to routine analytical work and certain forms of technical execution. Tasks that previously required specialised training or significant time investment are becoming faster, cheaper, and increasingly automated. As a result, labour market dynamics are shifting, redistributing where human contribution creates the most value.

In this environment, the practical justification for an MBA changes. Its significance lies not in safeguarding against automation, but in cultivating capabilities that gain importance as intelligent systems become synthetic colleagues. Structured decision-making, economic reasoning, organisational navigation, and leadership under uncertainty remain fundamentally human responsibilities.

The post What an MBA Teaches that AI Never Will in 2026 appeared first on The European Business Review.

Everything is moving fast these days. Leadership is no exception. Here are five essential skills leaders need in 2026. 

Meaningful Delegation to Avoid Burnout

Delegation is difficult for leaders, but it is one of the skills that makes the most meaningful impact for leaders – professionally and personally. Recent data from DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025 shows that 71 % of leaders report significantly higher stress levels since stepping into their current role, and among those, 54 % are concerned about burnout – a pattern that directly threatens leadership capacity across organizations.

Only about 19 % of rising leaders report having strong delegation skills, a key factor in mitigating overload, meaning the majority lack the tools to prevent burnout in themselves and others. Leaders experiencing burnout are also 34 % less likely to rate their effectiveness above peers and about half as likely to be engaged in their roles, which directly impacts team performance, culture, and decision quality. As a result, 40 % of stressed leaders have seriously considered leaving their leadership positions entirely to protect their wellbeing – a potential leadership exodus that could hollow out pipelines at all levels.

That is a measurable talent risk affecting both retention, productivity, and organizational resilience which highlights the need among leaders to learn how to delegate.

Sensemaking When Everyone Is Telling a Different Story

Information overload is no longer the central challenge facing leaders. To many leaders, the real problem is conflict over what the information means.

In many organizations today, internal data paints one picture while perception among colleagues or in the public paints another. Employees experience one reality, customers another – and increasingly, algorithms and big data offer yet another interpretation entirely. By 2026, leaders will be navigating decisions where there is no single, agreed-upon truth or narrative.

Leaders often assume that more facts will produce alignment, but in reality, people “talk their way into” their own interpretations, creating divergent narratives that slow execution and fragment understanding when they go unaddressed. Sensemaking – the disciplined practice of unpacking uncertainty and co-constructing meaning – connects knowledge to action by enabling teams to recognize signals, build shared context, and decide what happens next even when clarity is incomplete. In this view, alignment does not come from simply collecting information, but from collaborative interpretation, reconciling diverse viewpoints, and shaping a narrative that teams can rally around. Leaders who can guide this process – explaining not just what they believe but why, and acknowledging areas of uncertainty – create the cognitive glue that holds organizations together amid ambiguity.

According to Forbes, leaders should have five skills related to sensemaking. The first skill is contextual clarity – the ability to explain not just what the organization is doing, but why, why now, and under what assumptions. When leaders fail to provide this context, employees inevitably construct their own explanations, often inconsistently and at odds with strategic intent.

A second skill is dialogic leadership. Alignment rarely comes from directives or polished communications alone. It is built through structured, ongoing dialogue that surfaces different interpretations across the organization – particularly between headquarters and local units. Leaders who treat conversation as a strategic tool, rather than a soft add-on, are better able to build shared understanding during periods of change.

Equally critical, Forbes details, is the ability to recognize and elevate local insight. Subsidiaries and frontline teams often detect shifts earlier than central leadership, yet political pressure or past experience can lead to “sense-censoring,” where valuable observations are withheld. Leaders must create conditions where dissenting interpretations are seen as strategic input, not resistance.

Finally, effective sensemaking requires political awareness. Organizational change always produces competing narratives, some of which accelerate transformation while others quietly undermine it. Leaders who understand the politics of meaning-making can engage these narratives early, shaping them rather than reacting after misalignment has already slowed execution.

Psychological Safety as a Leadership Skill

In today’s organizations, psychological safety has moved from a nice‑to‑have to a practical leadership requirement. Recent developments in work culture, along with Gen-Z’s entrance into the workforce, mean that psychological safety has become a practical leadership requirement.

And studies show that psychological safety is not just good for employees – it’s good for innovation and business as well.

What this means in reality is simple: people need to feel they can speak up, challenge assumptions, ask hard questions, and admit mistakes without fear of punishment. Research shows that when leaders establish this kind of environment, teams are more likely to innovate, engage, and stick around. In a global survey by Boston Consulting Group, employees reporting high psychological safety were far less likely to consider quitting – a and felt more motivated and enabled to succeed – compared with those in low‑safety environments.

Creating psychological safety isn’t about being overly nice or entirely avoiding conflict. As researchers from Harvard Business School have emphasized, it is specifically about “permission for candor” – the expectation that challenging ideas and speaking up are acceptable and expected parts of work, not threats to one’s career. This distinction matters because leaders often assume safety exists when people aren’t openly disagreeing – when in fact, silence often masks fear, not alignment.

Leaders who excel at psychological safety demonstrate specific behaviors: they solicit diverse viewpoints, respond constructively to feedback, admit their own uncertainties, and model productive conflict rather than suppress it. These behaviors aren’t soft extras – they directly influence performance, retention, and innovation. In fact, psychological safety has been linked with stronger innovation outcomes because people feel free to take risks and offer ideas they might otherwise keep to themselves.

Leaders as AI Stewards, Not Decision Replacements

By 2026, AI will be deeply embedded in core business functions – from forecasting and compliance to talent management and customer engagement. But the fundamental leadership question is no longer whether to adopt AI; it’s how leaders govern and integrate AI in ways that amplify human agency, maintain trust, and uphold ethical standards.

According to McKinsey, AI dramatically accelerates routine tasks and data processing, but it cannot replace uniquely human leadership work such as setting aspirations, navigating trade-offs, building trust, and interpreting context-responsibilities that remain distinctly human even when AI performs analytical heavy lifting. The most central aspects leaders must learn in this environment are how to exercise judgment responsibly, frame problems for meaningful impact, and cultivate the human skills – empathy, resilience, and ethical decision-making – that enable teams to act confidently on AI-driven insights. Leaders who fail to integrate AI thoughtfully, or neglect these human capabilities, risk undermining both performance and morale.

A Gartner leadership report similarly notes that successful executives are shifting from a “command and control” mindset to one of judgment orchestration – deciding where AI insight should inform a choice versus where human values, ethics, and strategic context must prevail. According to Gartner, this requires leaders to explain how they balance technological output with human judgement, ensuring decisions are defensible to stakeholders and aligned with organizational values.

Strategic Adaptability and Adaptive Leadership

As disruption accelerates across industries – driven by tech- and AI adoption and constant competitive pressure – leaders must master strategic adaptability. Adaptive leadership is not merely reactive; it is proactive and systemic – involving flexible thinking, clear communication, and an openness to evolving solutions as conditions shift.

According to Forbes, adaptive leaders view change as an opportunity for learning and growth, not a threat to be resisted, and they cultivate cultures where teams feel empowered to pivot, experiment, and innovate rather than cling to legacy processes. This involves communicating transparently about what’s known and unknown, prioritizing where to focus energy, empowering others to make decisions aligned with strategic intent, and continually scanning for new signals that affect organizational direction.

As examples, adaptive leaders communicate frequently to reduce fear and confusion, delegate authority to increase responsiveness, and remain agile enough to shift priorities based on new data and feedback – essential behaviors in an age where economic, technological, and societal changes emerge with increasing speed and complexity. Effective adaptability blends strategic clarity with operational flexibility, enabling leaders to navigate ambiguity while preserving alignment and momentum.

The post The Skills Leaders Will Actually Need in 2026 appeared first on The European Business Review.

Training Your “Neural Filter”

New year, new me. Vague resolutions rarely change much, but highly specific, well-defined goals can lead to meaningful change. Cognitive neuroscience shows that maintaining a clear goal representation engages prefrontal cortex networks responsible for planning, attentional control, and progress monitoring. The prefrontal cortex supports goal maintenance by actively biasing perception, memory, and decision-making toward information that is relevant to the current objective.

When a goal is specific and repeatedly revisited, top-down attentional control increases the likelihood that goal-relevant cues are noticed and integrated, while irrelevant information is deprioritized. This makes connections and opportunities easier to recognize – not because the brain automatically filters reality, but because attention is strategically guided by goal relevance and value. This is a valuable approach in the attention economy where attention is limited while content is infinite.

Sustained engagement with goal-directed thinking and tasking can also produce experience-dependent changes in executive control networks, reflecting well-established mechanisms of neuroplasticity that support improved planning and self-monitoring over time. In other words, if your New Year’s resolution is specific and revisited throughout 2026, there’s a higher chance that it will be impactful and create a meaningful change.

High performers also build structured reflection into their routines to ensure continuous learning and course correction.

Systematic Reflection and Micro-Reviews

Setting goals is a good start. High performers also build structured reflection into their routines to ensure continuous learning and course correction. Weekly or monthly micro-reviews allow you to step back and ask key questions such as:

• What tasks or strategies are producing the most impact?
• Where did I encounter friction, and why?
• What skills or resources could have improved results?
• Which opportunities am I missing by staying within my comfort zone?

These sessions are most effective when they are short, focused, and, most of all, consistent – even 15-30 minutes can make a difference. A progress journal helps make these reflections tangible: note wins, lessons learned, unexpected insights, and actionable next steps. This can be in a physical journal or even in a Google Docs or Notion document. Over time, this creates a personal knowledge base, allowing you to identify patterns, anticipate challenges, and make smarter decisions.

The Premortem as Strategic Foresight

The old “move fast and break things” mantra has gradually given way to disciplined foresight. In an environment shaped by volatility, uncertainty, and constant information overload, high-performing individuals increasingly rely on structured foresight not only to anticipate change, but to make progress toward specific goals with fewer avoidable missteps.

Before committing to a major personal or professional initiative, many now use a prospective hindsight exercise, commonly known as a ‘premortem‘. In this exercise, you imagine it is December 2026 and your initiative has failed spectacularly, then work backward to identify the most plausible reasons for that failure. Research shows that this framing helps counter overconfidence and the planning fallacy by making risks easier to identify and acknowledge.

For individuals, the value lies in how the premortem legitimises self-critique and future-oriented analysis. By deliberately surfacing hidden assumptions, unrealistic timelines, and foreseeable obstacles early, premortems act as a career immune system: strengthening judgment, improving prioritization, and thereby increasing resilience.

Adopting the “Future-Back” Skills Framework

The Future-Back method, also known as Backcasting, is an opposite approach to foresight that starts by envisioning your desired state at the end of the year with extreme granularity. From this future vantage point, you work backward to identify the high-stakes skills you currently lack. The skills that are critical to achieving your goals. Examples might include AI auditing, cross-cultural negotiation, or data analysis.

By defining the end-state first, this method helps individuals spot mission-critical skill gaps before they become urgent, turning abstract goals into a data-driven roadmap for skill acquisition. It focuses attention on what truly matters, prioritizes learning, and reduces the risk of investing effort in low-impact areas. Backcasting from a detailed future allows you to act with foresight, ensuring your personal development aligns with long-term objectives.

Strategic Experimentation and Small Bets

Beyond reflection and foresight, a valuable method is to do a series of small, testable experiments. Instead of committing to a single rigid path, take small bets and prototype, test, measure, and iterate. This approach is especially valuable for professionals seeking a career breakthrough, where the stakes are high but uncertainty is unavoidable.

Career breakthroughs rarely happen by following a clear, defined path. Experimentation allows you to try multiple approaches safely, identifying what works before fully committing. Over time, these small bets compound, revealing patterns, building skills, and creating visibility that can accelerate promotions or entrepreneurial opportunities.

Examples include:

• Experimenting with content or being more active on LinkedIn to attract a new following.
• Learning a new tool or skill with a small, applied project. Test interest by seeing how many people sign up for your newsletter or expresses interest in a product.
• Pitching an idea to a mentor, social media followers, or peer network as a trial before scaling.

For each micro-experiment, track outcomes carefully – successes, failures, unexpected insights, and lessons learned.

An AI audit begins with mapping your tasks and workflows. Ask: Which parts of my work are repetitive, data-heavy, or research-intensive.

AI Audits: Finding Where AI Can Boost Your Work in 2026

As AI tools continue to evolve, 2026 will be a year where individuals can continue to unlock productivity gains through strategic AI use. Rather than chasing the hype around multi-agent systems, for most professionals a good first step is conducting a personal AI audit: systematically identifying where AI can enhance your workflows today – and preparing for future breakthroughs.

An AI audit begins with mapping your tasks and workflows. Ask: Which parts of my work are repetitive, data-heavy, or research-intensive? Large language models can assist with summarization, drafting, and analysis. Specialized AI tools can support data visualization, coding, or content generation. Even if multi-agent systems aren’t yet mainstream, evaluating where agents can safely orchestrate multiple steps – research, drafting, reviewing, generating leads – helps you anticipate future skill needs and avoid scrambling when these tools mature.

This mindset also counters the major pitfall of agent overconfidence: assuming AI can replace judgment. Not every task benefits from automation, and poorly scoped agents can produce noise rather than value.

Mastering “Energy Management” Over “Time Management”

Failing to match when you work to how your brain functions can erode decision quality, focus, and creative capacity. As AI assumes more of the repetitive work, humans are left to provide strategic insight, judgement, and complex reasoning. Qualities that are best expressed when biological energy is optimised.

Recent research confirms that performance on high‑level cognitive tasks fluctuates systematically with time of day and an individual’s internal biological clock, known as chronotype. When tasks are aligned with a person’s optimal time of day, performance on attention, memory, and executive functioning can be significantly better than when misaligned, with some studies showing measurable differences in cognitive performance across the day.

Energy management starts with understanding your chronotype – whether you’re a morning peak, afternoon peak, or evening peak – and attempting to structure your workload to match your internal rhythms. To many people, that looks like scheduling deep work sessions and demanding meetings in the early hours of the day and doing more exploratory work later in the day. This, however, depends on the chronotype and varies from person to person.

The post Seven Methods for Making 2026 Your Breakthrough Year appeared first on The European Business Review.

• UNESCO notes that the application of AI in education can accelerate progress toward the Education 2030 Agenda (SDG 4).
• Business schools have overwhelmingly embraced AI. In its 2024 Application Trends Survey, the Graduate Management Admission Council(GMAC) found that only 22% of programs surveyed haven’t integrated AI into student learning.
• According to GMAC’s latest Corporate Recruiters Survey, global employers predict that knowledge of AI tools will be the fastest growing essential skill for new business hires over the next five years.
• A new report – The 2025 Graduate Business Curriculum Summary Report(GBCR)*– shows AI has become a foundational pillar of MBA and business master’s programs worldwide, signaling a dramatic shift in how business schools are preparing the next generation of leaders.

“AI isn’t being taught in a vacuum,” the report states. “It is being embedded across disciplines, serving as a tool to understand markets, manage risk, and lead organizations more effectively.”

An MBA provides the strategic, operational, and cross-functional lens needed to bridge the gap between technical teams and business outcomes.

For professionals who want to lead AI-enabled change, an MBA provides the strategic, operational, and cross-functional lens needed to bridge the gap between technical teams and business outcomes. An MBA equips future leaders with the fluency to ask the right questions, make informed decisions, and drive value through AI. In a business world increasingly shaped by automation and intelligence, that’s a critical advantage.

Revolution in Program Delivery

The GBCR report, based on curriculum data collected between November 2024 and February 2025 states that the structure and delivery of business education are undergoing sweeping change.

Drawing on data from 110 business schools and 245 graduate business programs, the study provides a detailed snapshot of how AI, analytics, and digital transformation are redefining the core of business education.

“Over the next decade, business school curricula will undergo a significant transformation, driven by technology, market demands, and changing student expectations,” the report said.

The report highlights several major trends:

• Flexible and modular formats: Rigid degree structures are giving way to stackable credentials, micro-credentials, and certificates, allowing students to personalise their learning journey and build skills over time.
• Hybrid and online-first programs: More than 40% of MBA and business master’s programs now offer online or hybrid formats, driven by demand for flexibility, accessibility, and work-life balance.
• Experiential learning: Real-world projects, live consulting engagements, and AI-driven simulations are becoming standard components of the curriculum, helping students apply their learning in practical, high-stakes settings.
• Renewed focus on soft skills: While AI fluency is essential, schools are also doubling down on communication, empathy, collaboration, and ethical leadership — qualities that differentiate successful leaders in an increasingly automated world.

Impact of AI in Industry Sectors

AI is influencing nearly every industry, but some sectors are undergoing especially rapid transformation. In these environments, the demand for MBA graduates who can navigate technological disruption while driving strategy is surging.

Understanding where AI is having the biggest impact can help you target industries that align with the student’s interests and long-term potential.

• Finance: Fewer entry-level analyst roles, more demand for strategic thinkers who can interpret AI outputs
• Healthcare: Hospital ops and diagnostics are being optimized by AI, demanding managers with both tech and patient-centered insight
• Retail & E-Commerce: MBAs are leading AI-powered personalization and pricing strategies
• Consulting: Firms are building out digital transformation units, with MBAs as the linchpin between tech tools and client needs 

How MBA Programs Are Adapting

Leading business schools are recognizing that staying competitive in an AI-driven world means more than just adding a course or two. They’re rethinking their curricula from the ground up, integrating technology and analytics into the core of the MBA experience.

“AI and data analytics will become core components of business education, both as subjects of study and as tools to enhance learning experiences,” says the GBCR report:

• AI & Analytics Electives: All top programs now offer electives in AI strategy, machine learning, data ethics, and automation – giving students foundational knowledge of the technologies shaping business.
• Tech-Focused MBA Programs: Schools like NYU Stern (Tech MBA), Carnegie Mellon Tepper, and MIT Sloan are leading the way. Tepper’s curriculum is especially notable for its deep integration with CMU’s world-class AI and computer science departments, creating a hands-on, analytics-rich environment.
• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Many schools are actively fostering collaboration across business, engineering, and data science. At Berkeley Haas, for example, students can pursue dual degrees or take electives through UC Berkeley’s top-ranked tech departments, allowing them to build fluency in both business strategy and technical innovation. 

The New MBA Roles Emerging From AI

AI isn’t replacing MBAs – it’s redefining what they do. New hybrid roles are appearing that require both business acumen and AI fluency.

The report says: “Traditional degree structures will give way to flexible, modular, and personalised learning paths, with more emphasis on stackable credentials and micro-credentials.”

• AI Product Manager: Leads strategy and development of AI-driven solutions
• AI Strategy Consultant: Advises on adoption and ROI for AI initiatives
• Head of AI Business Development: Drives growth through AI-enabled partnerships
• AI Transformation Lead: Oversees enterprise-wide initiatives to integrate AI
• Director of AI Operations: Oversees enterprise-wide AI implementation
• AI Ethics & Governance Officer: Ensures ethical deployment of AI tech
• VP of Data & AI Strategy: Aligns AI capabilities with business growth

These roles demand strong leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to connect technical innovation with strategic business value – all hallmarks of a top-tier MBA education.

AI Is Automating Traditional MBA Skill Sets

In today’s business environment, MBAs must be fluent in interpreting data and making decisions with AI-driven insights. Leaders are expected to challenge black-box assumptions, understand limitations of predictive models, and guide teams through data-informed strategies. Familiarity with platforms and tools like Python, SQL, Tableau, ChatGPT and Salesforce Einstein is becoming the norm in tech-forward roles.

AI and data analytics will become core components of business education, both as subjects of study and as tools to enhance learning experiences

Roles that once relied heavily on manual business modeling, operational planning, and market analysis are now being supported – or even replaced – by AI tools. This doesn’t mean MBAs are obsolete. Quite the opposite: as automation scales, the human layer becomes more valuable. MBA graduates are now expected to move upstream – using insights from AI to lead initiatives, drive innovation, and guide ethical, customer-centered strategies.

“At the same time, the importance of soft skills, experiential learning, and interdisciplinary education will grow,” says the report. “Business schools must ensure that graduates not only understand technological advancements but also develop critical thinking, leadership, and ethical decision-making skills.”

Conclusion

AI is rapidly reshaping future careers, and so is the future of MBA programs. It is not just a passing trend — it is a strategic imperative for business schools seeking to remain relevant.

Survey respondents overwhelmingly agreed that AI’s influence will continue to grow over the next decade, affecting both content and delivery. From automated assessment tools to real-time analytics dashboards, AI is already shaping the way students experience business education.

With the advance of AI and the automation of traditional generic skill sets, the recognition and search of ‘soft skills’ is on the rise. Human-centric soft skills, which artificial intelligence can’t replicate, are most critical for businesses to function properly: ethical decision-making and moral judgment; human networking and relationship-building; emotional intelligence and empathy; and conflict resolution.

Presumably, as MBAs gradually integrate AI to meet the market’s increasing demand for roles that require AI skills, they should consider including lectures and classes on soft skills. As employers increasingly seek these human skills from professionals, recruitment processes will assess candidates based on the degree to which they possess these soft skills.

The knowledge acquired in an MBA and the learning on how to handle AI appropriately should align with the human skills that will add key value to the lot for professionals’ contributions in the work space of the future.

*The participating schools in the report represent more than 112,000 enrolled students, supported by nearly 8,000 full-time faculty, and span a mix of public and private institutions, as well as urban and rural campuses around the world.

The post Rethinking MBA: The Impact of AI on the Future of Professionals appeared first on The European Business Review.

For more than six decades, the Berkshire Hathaway chairman has delivered not only market-beating returns but also a body of wisdom that continues to guide investors, CEOs, and students worldwide. His philosophy blends discipline, humility, rationality, and long-term thinking feel especially relevant today as markets confront volatility and technology accelerates at unprecedented speed.

Buffett on Investing: Patience, Discipline, and Understanding

Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy centers on long-term discipline over speculation. He explained that “successful investing takes time, discipline and patience,” adding that “no matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time”. His commitment to long-term fundamentals appears again in his well-known remark: “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for ten years, don’t even think about owning it for ten minutes”.

Buffett also reframes risk, noting that “risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing”. Even during downturns, he urges decisive action when opportunities emerge: “When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble”. Across all these insights, he reinforces that patience, conviction, and understanding outperform speculation.

Buffett on Leadership: Integrity, Character, and Reputation

Buffett’s leadership philosophy is anchored in integrity. His well-known warning — “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it” — has been cited across business journals and leadership analyses. He also emphasizes the importance of surrounding oneself with high-quality people: “You will move in the direction of the people you associate with. So it’s important to associate with people better than you”.

Buffett’s stark comment on honesty — “Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people” — appears consistently across verified business ethics compilations even today. These principles have shaped Berkshire Hathaway’s enduring culture and offer a framework for ethical leadership in today’s increasingly complex business environment.

Buffett on Education and Personal Growth: The Ultimate Investment

Buffett repeatedly emphasizes that education is the highest-return investment. His statement, “The most important investment you can make is in yourself” encourages students to embrace rigorous reading habits, famously advising that knowledge “builds up like compound interest” and recommending that young people “read 500 pages a day”. Buffett also speaks openly about the value of slow decision-making and reflection and highlights that he spends a large part of each day reading and thinking rather than reacting.

When evaluating talent, he rejects pedigree bias entirely: “I never look at where a candidate has gone to school. Never!”. His philosophy champions intellectual curiosity, humility, and continuous improvement as the true differentiators of success.

Buffett on Success: Simplicity, Focus, and Avoiding Big Mistakes

Buffett’s view of success emphasizes clarity and restraint. His statement, “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong” shows his commitment to constantly showing up for yourself and your work. His most iconic investing principle — “Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful” — still appears across nearly every established source on Buffett’s teachings.

These reflections reinforce a broader theme: sustained success comes not from doing everything, but from consistently doing the right things.

Buffett on AI and Technology: Cautious Respect for a Transforming World

Buffett does not claim to be an AI expert, but his reflections on the technology reveal a cautious yet grounded stance. He remarked that while AI will meaningfully transform industries, old-fashioned intelligence works pretty well. Buffett’s belief that while technology changes rapidly, foundational values like judgment, honesty, and clear reasoning remain constant. His approach offers a balanced message for modern leaders: embrace technological transformation, but do not abandon the principles that underpin thoughtful decision-making. 

In an era defined by rapid AI advancements, geopolitical uncertainty, and shifting economic cycles, Warren Buffett’s philosophy offers a rare form of clarity. His lessons emphasize patience, integrity, deep learning, emotional discipline, and long-term thinking that withstand market cycles and technological shifts.

The post Warren Buffett: Timeless Lessons on Success, Investing, Leadership, Learning, and the Future of AI appeared first on The European Business Review.

Since Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin in 2008, the cryptocurrency has transformed from a niche digital experiment into a mainstream financial asset. Bitcoin reached a market peak of $2.5 trillion in October 2025, reflecting broader acceptance by banks, regulators, and investment firms. Digital currencies are now linked to global finance, creating new opportunities and risks.

While mainstream adoption has increased accessibility, it has also exposed crypto markets to wider shocks. The integration of digital assets into traditional financial systems has tied their performance to broader equities, bond markets, and macroeconomic events. The rapid growth of exchange-traded products, corporate holdings, and central bank interest underscores Bitcoin’s emerging significance but also highlights potential vulnerabilities in market stability.

Bear Market Sets In as Prices Fall Sharply

Bitcoin prices have fallen from roughly $126,000 in early October 2025 to around $92,000, marking a 27 percent drop. This decline has triggered a broader contraction across the cryptocurrency sector, wiping out more than $1 trillion in value in just six weeks. Market stress is compounded by weak ETF inflows, large sell-offs from long-term holders, and thinning support from institutional and retail investors.

Technical indicators point to deepening bearish momentum. Bitcoin slipped below its 200-day moving average and key Fibonacci retracement levels, signaling further vulnerability. Protective trading positions and heavy interest in put options illustrate widespread investor caution. Analysts note that the next major support for Bitcoin lies near $93,000, with potential for a deeper slide if confidence does not return.

Liquidity Strains and Derivatives Pressure

Crypto markets are highly leveraged, amplifying price swings. More than $553 million in positions were liquidated in a single day in mid-November 2025, with miners adding over $119 million in BTC sales. Strategic holders, such as companies heavily invested in Bitcoin, have seen market capitalization fall below asset holdings, raising concerns about potential forced sell-offs.

Derivative markets are also signaling caution. Options traders have increased demand for downside protection, especially near the $90,000 and $95,000 strikes. Funding rates for perpetual contracts have turned negative, reflecting rising short positions. These trends highlight investor focus on risk management over speculative gains, reinforcing the bear market sentiment.

Global Markets Feel the Crypto Ripple Effect

The cryptocurrency downturn is not isolated. Fears of a tech bubble and delayed Federal Reserve rate cuts have contributed to declines in major equity indices worldwide. The FTSE 100, Stoxx Europe 600, and Wall Street benchmarks all experienced significant losses, while Asian markets, including the Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng, recorded steep declines.

High valuations in artificial intelligence companies and technology sectors are adding to investor anxiety. Executives from Google and Klarna have publicly warned of overinvestment and potential corrections, signaling heightened market caution. This environment has encouraged a defensive posture among traders, causing reduced appetite for high-risk assets, including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Stablecoins and Financial Interconnections

Stablecoins, which are designed to maintain value and facilitate payments, have grown to over $300 billion in the past year. While primarily used for crypto transactions, their reliance on U.S. Treasury backing means that market disruptions could spill over into bond markets. A widespread sell-off in crypto assets could trigger liquidity challenges, stressing financial systems beyond the digital-asset space.

This interconnection highlights how mainstream adoption and regulatory recognition can both support and challenge crypto markets. As central banks remain cautious about including digital assets in reserves, the potential for volatility impacting broader financial markets remains significant.

Uncertainty and Future Outlook

Market analysts caution that predicting Bitcoin’s bottom remains difficult. Historically, crypto rebounds occur when sentiment is weakest, but volatility tends to persist before meaningful recovery. Potential catalysts for stabilization include renewed institutional interest, government purchases of digital assets, and broader clarity on macroeconomic policy.

Investors and regulators alike are observing liquidity conditions, ETF flows, and market correlations closely. Bitcoin’s movements now mirror broader growth assets, including tech stocks, making its trajectory sensitive to global economic developments. While long-term prospects for cryptocurrency remain promising, the current market phase emphasizes risk management and careful assessment of interconnected financial exposures.

Lessons for Investors and Markets

The recent downturn offers several key insights. First, broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies increases exposure to macroeconomic risks. Second, leverage and derivatives can magnify losses during volatile periods. Finally, the integration of digital assets with mainstream finance highlights the importance of monitoring systemic risk.

Despite the declines, crypto markets continue to evolve, with potential recovery opportunities for patient investors. The current environment underscores the need for caution, adaptability, and an understanding of the complex factors shaping asset valuations.

The post Why Bitcoin is Falling Today What Traders Should Know About Crypto appeared first on The European Business Review.

Women are breaking up with companies at a highest rate than men, and this phenomenon proves that professional women of today prioritise their well-being and their professional demands, rather that the mere fact of keeping a job. Because they are revaluating their values and priorities, some are even switching industries or becoming entrepreneurs.

The latest jobs data from the United States government shows that between January and July 2025, 212,000 women left the workforce at the same time that 44,000 men entered it.

Also, a 2024 Women in the Workplace study sponsored by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company, women leaders are leaving corporate America at the highest rate in years. In fact, the gap between women and men leaving is the largest it’s ever been.

A released Women in the Workplace Report 2022 from LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company, exposed that we are in the midst of a “Great Breakup,” where women leaders are demanding more from work, and are more likely to switch jobs to get their needs met.

Professional women of today are selective and prioritize their well-being in the work place, and they are seeking a good work-life balance too. If a workplace is a toxic environment allowing microaggressions or harassment, if there is lack of corporate structure, or if the organisation is failing to provide managerial support and career opportunities for advancement; competitive working women are ready to move and seek other positions, and often quitting a job becomes the inflection point to initiate their own businesses.

Unequal pay

A Pew Research Center analysis confirmed that in 2022 women earned approximately 82% of what men did. One explanation is that even though women have increased their presence in the C-suite, they are still overrepresented in lower-paying roles relative to their share of the workforce. Gender discrimination and unconscious gender bias may also contribute to the wage discrepancy. Not surprisingly, many of these women are deciding to start their own businesses. Because while entrepreneurship carries risk, it also has the potential to reap greater rewards over time.

Harassment and microaggressions

Microaggressions can be around gender or race and include the use of sexist language or subtle comments that are disrespectful and sometimes toxic. One example is when a female employee shares an idea in a meeting, but then a male co-worker receives credit for it when he repeats it. According to the McKinsey data, women in leadership are also far more likely than men to have colleagues who imply that they aren’t qualified for their jobs. And finally, women leaders are twice as likely as their male colleagues to be mistaken for someone more junior.

Lack of managerial support

Having a supportive manager is one of the top three factors women consider when deciding whether to join or stay with a company.

Yet there’s a growing gap between what’s expected of managers and how they’re being trained and rewarded. According to the report, less than 50% of manager trainings address topics such as how to prevent employee burnout and make sure promotions are equitable. Moreover, only 25% of companies factor employee retention and 34% consider progress on DEI in managers’ performance evaluations.

On another hand, women are more likely than men to experience microaggressions that undermine their authority. For example, the report finds 37% of women leaders have had a coworker get credit for their idea, compared to 27% of men leaders, and women leaders are two times as likely as men leaders to be mistaken for someone more junior.

No work-life balance

The research finds that young women under 30 are prioritizing work-life balance more highly than other women: Almost two-thirds of women under 30 say they would be more interested in advancing if they saw senior leaders who had the work-life balance they want. At the same time, they’re ambitious: 58% of women under 30 say advancement has become more important to them over the past two years, compared to 31% of women leaders. Young women may be redefining what an effective leader might look like.

Stress and burnout

Working women in the U.S. are among the most stressed employees globally, according to new research from Gallup. And as they continue to undertake more responsibilities at home and at work, they are experiencing burnout and exhaustion at higher rates than men.

Work-related stress is taking a physical and mental toll on female leaders. According to the Deloitte report, Women @ Work 2022: A Global Outlook, women are experiencing dangerously high levels of burnout. The situation is so severe that 53% of respondents say their stress levels are higher than a year ago, with almost half feeling exhausted. As a result, nearly 40% of those women looking for new employment cited burnout as the main reason.

Limited career advancement

More than half (58%) of women under 30 say career advancement has become more important to them over the past two years, compared to 31% of women leaders.

Despite modest gains in representation in leadership, only 1 in 4 C-Suite leaders is a woman, the report notes. Far fewer women than men are being promoted to managerial roles: For every 100 men who are promoted from an entry-level to a manager position, only 87 women and 82 women of color are promoted.

While women are just as likely to want to move up in the organization, it is more difficult for them to advance. In research from MIT Sloan, although women received higher performance ratings than their male colleagues, they received 8.3% lower ratings for potential than men. Potential scores are subjective and reflect how much their managers believed they would develop in the future. Because those ratings strongly predict promotions, female employees were 14% less likely to be promoted than male ones.

Conclusion

Professional women of today don’t want business as usual, they demand positions that add value to their careers and their lives, jobs that collaborate in keeping a good work-life balance, and places that stand for toxic-free work environments. Many women also embrace tools like a QR Code Business Card to simplify networking effortlessly.

The demands of professional women of today reflect the aims of a modern society with a more sophisticated approach, where ethical standards are at the top of the list. The great breakup is a clear symptom that today’s corporate world is still designed in an old-fashioned way and based on backwards approaches where the most basic needs of the individual are often dismissed, overseen or neglected.

The traditional vertical approach in the corporate world, is gradually being replaced by a more horizontal and equitable view, where human needs have a voice which must be heard when crafting company policies and job specs.

Building an equitable workplace where women can thrive starts with fixing the “broken rung,”; for every 100 men promoted and hired to manager, only 72 women are promoted and hired. This broken rung results in more women getting stuck at the entry level and fewer women becoming managers.

The rising concern about mental health in the public debate, it also raises the need of reviewing and upgrading office environments to more human friendly work places: without harassment and toxic atmospheres.

If companies want to retain valuable talent, they need to create an equitable workplace where professionally competitive women can thrive, and yet the corporate world would have to listen to their demands.

The post The “Great Breakup”: Females Quit Their Jobs at the Highest Rate Ever appeared first on The European Business Review.

Crypto is a highly volatile market. Significant price swings, which would be considered major events in traditional financial markets, are a common occurrence in the crypto market. Recurrent issues in what respect to the unsorted regulation have an impact in traders and investors discouraging new-comers.

In the last period however, many advancements are pushing forward the still novel sector of Cryptocurrency bringing to traders and investors new opportunities. The surge of bitcoin, the rise of the trend of AI Tokens, the change of Regulation and the GENIUS Act are some of the innovations consolidating a Market Momentum in Crypto not to miss out by traders and investors.

The cryptocurrency market is currently at a $3.4 trillion market cap. It surged as high as $3.8 trillion in December 2024.

The rising trend was impacted by the US trade tariffs in Q1 of 2025, causing a short-term decline and high volatility in Bitcoin. But cryptocurrency appears to be firmly on the rise once again.

Blockchain technology and AI is being gradually adopted by the Crypto market to stay competitive. Traders embrace new tools and technologies, such as AI-driven analytics and blockchain-based solutions, to enhance their trading strategies. AI tokens are in a rising trend, and these are cryptocurrencies designed to support applications and services that use artificial intelligence within the blockchain ecosystem.

Policies in what respect to regulation of Crypto vary by country, but the US administration has favored a permissive and hands-off approach specially since the re-election of Donald Trump.

Bitcoin surge

Looking back, the actual Bitcoin peak in 2024 exceeded predictions by a huge margin, reaching $106,140 mid-December.

The value of Bitcoin surged 150% coming into 2024. And many believe this will keep run could last well into 2025.

Crypto-linked investment products broke a 15-week streak of capital inflows and recorded net outflows of $223 million, according to the latest CoinShares report.

The shift came after the Federal Reserve signaled it may keep interest rates elevated for longer, following economic data that showed a strong labor market and persistent inflation in the U.S.

Yet despite the uncertainties, Bitcoin is showing remarkable resilience, and it’s already showing signs of bouncing back in 2025 Q2. In fact, it has hit new heights, surpassing $111,000.

Two major factors helped to spark this bull market: the approval of spot ETFs and the latest halving event, both of which took place last year.

Brokerages began designing Bitcoin ETFs as early as 2013, but the spot ETF wasn’t approved by the SEC until January 2024.

These funds consist of crypto that’s purchased by the financial firm and then offered as shares to investors. The investors never actually hold any Bitcoin, but the ETF tracks with Bitcoin’s market value.

Funding, Mergers, and Acquisitions

The last few years have been volatile for crypto funding. 2022 was a year of crypto bankruptcies.

But in late 2023, investor confidence returned. And there has been a steady trend of renewed investment since then. Venture capital investment in crypto startups hit $4.9 billion in Q1 2025, the highest figure in over 2 years

The quarter’s largest investment, valued at $2 billion, went to Binance. The cryptocurrency exchange has become the go-to place for traders, with a higher daily trading volume than any other platform. As of May 2025, Binance receives 76.7 million visitors each month.

Among the 445 other deals (up 7.5% quarter-over-quarter), investments focused on early-stage crypto startups. Investors say funding in the next year will be focused on real-world applications of blockchain and the infrastructure needed to implement these applications. That includes integration between fintech companies and crypto ecosystems.

A spike of IPOs and mergers and acquisitions is also expected for 2025. Total venture funding in crypto this year is projected to pass $18 billion. 

AI Tokens Rising Trend

AI tokens is a form of digital currency that uses artificial intelligence. These are cryptocurrencies designed to support applications and services that use artificial intelligence within the blockchain ecosystem.

AI tokens continue to gain momentum as key projects demonstrate strong price performance and growing adoption, positioning them as potential top AI acquisitions of 2025. In recent months, AI has been working its way into the world of cryptocurrency.

There are over 200 AI tokens in the crypto space right now. In April 2023, the combined market value of AI tokens was just $2.7 billion. Now it’s surpassed $36 billion.

AI tokens offer support across three main areas: facilitating transactions, enabling protocol governance to allow users to have a say in the development of an AI platform, and mediating token-based reward systems to incentivize them to do so.

Changing Regulation

Governments worldwide are getting to grips with crypto regulation. But policies vary massively by country, but Trump’s administration has been more permissive. In his first week in office, he signed an executive order authorizing a more “light-touch” regulation of the industry.

Donald Trump has been a supporter of Bitcoin since returning to the White House — vowing to transform America into the “crypto capital of the world.” But the president has previously sparked controversy by launching his own range of non-fungible tokens — not to mention an official meme coin — it’s fair to say Trump isn’t doing this out of kindness. The policies he’s pushing are beneficial to his own business empire, despite White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt repeatedly insisting they do not amount to a conflict of interest.

The Genius Act

The GENIUS Act (“Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act”) marks the United States’ first major legislative step towards regulating stablecoins. With this bill, it joins a growing list of countries seeking to bring oversight and stability to the rapidly expanding digital asset ecosystem. This act aims to provide clear regulatory guardrails for the industry.

The GENIUS Act designates “primary Federal payment stablecoin regulators” (notably the OCC for national banks and certain non-banks). It preserves a role for qualified state regimes via a certification process. It also stands up a Stablecoin Certification Review Committee to vet state frameworks and specific issuer applications. Treasury and other agencies get defined roles, particularly around AML/CFT and foreign stablecoin reciprocity.

Conclusion

Investing in cryptocurrency is a high-risk, high-reward strategy. Making the decision to invest in it is complex and depends on a variety of factors, including your personal financial goals, risk tolerance, current trends and policies, and understanding of the market.

Analysts forecasting substantial profit potential for undervalued crypto assets through 2025. Traders and Investors can benefit from the Market Momentum, as Bitcoin’s surge creates optimism across cryptocurrency markets. It encourages Traders and Investors, especially in the US, where the Trump’s administration has favoured a hands-off regulation approach.

As AI and Blockchain-based technologies are gradually adopted by the Crypto market, the coin is becoming a more competitive product pushing forward to expand on digital driven solutions aiming to support traders and investors on their predictions.

Crypto seems promising sector in the next few years, but it will be also accompanying a high degree of ups and downs along the way. If potential investors and traders are able to riding the waves of the Cryptocurrency market, they will learn everything about the crypto market, develop a clear plan that aligns with their goals, and make the most of the tools and information that is out there, but doing so could lead to generous trading profits.

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What Traders and Investors Can Do to Protect Themselves from Trade Wars’ Risks? 

On Sunday, Trump announced a trade deal with the EU, following discussions with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The just-announced US – EU trade framework imposes 15% tariffs on most EU goods but secures $750 billion in EU energy buys and $600 billion in investments, dodging a 30% levy before August 1.

Some called the framework trade deal between the United States and European Union a “capitulation”, and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou named it a “dark day” for Europe, saying the bloc had caved in to U.S. President Donald Trump with an unbalanced deal that slaps a headline 15% tariff on EU goods while sparing U.S. imports from any immediate European retaliation.

While the EU-US trade deal removes a significant layer of uncertainty from markets, it is perceived as a pre deal just as devil may be in the details.

Also, geopolitical fragmentation accelerated by Trump’s “America First” approach has spurred alternative trade blocs, challenging U.S.-centric economic dominance.

As the world grapples with the aftershocks of Trump’s 2025 diplomatic policies and the Gaza crisis, investors are facing a complex interplay of geopolitical risk and market instability. The U.S. president’s isolationist turns, coupled with the Middle East’s escalating conflicts, has reshaped global trade dynamics, commodity markets, and asset allocation strategies. This article dissects these forces and offers actionable insights for investors navigating this volatile landscape.

Trump Tariff War Global Impact: Unilateralism Over Multilateral Cooperation

President Trump’s 2025 trade policies have prioritized unilateralism over multilateral cooperation, triggering a seismic shift in global trade. The imposition of tariffs—ranging from 10% to 50% on key partners like China, the EU, Canada, and Brazil—has disrupted supply chains and fueled inflationary pressures. The Federal Reserve now attributes 0.8% of annual U.S. inflation to these measures, while global GDP growth projections have been downgraded by 0.3% due to trade uncertainty. Recent US economic news data indicates that the Federal Reserve may soon lower interest rates, yet prices remain elevated and government bond yields can change suddenly. Factors like these contribute to heightened investor uncertainty and could prompt significant shifts in the broader economic landscape.

This realignment challenges the U.S.-centric trade order and raises questions about long-term market access for American firms.

For investors, the implications are twofold. First, the erosion of free-trade norms has increased costs for multinational corporations, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture. Second, the resulting geopolitical fragmentation has accelerated the formation of alternative trade blocs, with China, India, and the EU deepening economic ties. This realignment challenges the U.S.-centric trade order and raises questions about long-term market access for American firms.

Trump’s Middle East Policies and the Gaza Crisis: Regional and Global Uncertainty

Trump’s controversial Middle East strategies—ranging from the “Riviera of the Middle East” plan to calls for “finishing the job” against Hamas—have further inflamed regional tensions. Arab states like Egypt and Jordan have distanced themselves from the U.S., while Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock markets have become increasingly sensitive to geopolitical risk. Studies show that GCC market volatility is now driven 60% by geopolitical risk (GPR) shocks, compared to 30% by oil price fluctuations.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza—where 25% of the population faces famine-like conditions—has also sparked a reevaluation of ESG investing. While safe-haven assets like gold (up 45% in 2024–2025) have gained traction, ESG funds with Middle East exposure face divestment risks. Investors must balance ethical considerations with market realities, favoring firms with robust supply chain ethics frameworks.

The Gaza crisis has compounded global market instability, with energy and agricultural sectors bearing the brunt. Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes have forced vessels to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, adding 7,000 nautical miles to transit times and inflating shipping costs. This has driven Brent crude prices to $85/barrel in Q2 2025—a 18% surge from early 2024—and exacerbated supply chain bottlenecks.

Agricultural markets have also been destabilized. Southern Israel’s damaged infrastructure and Gaza’s food insecurity have pushed wheat and barley futures up 12% year-to-date. Emerging markets, particularly India and China, face heightened import costs, compounding inflationary pressures in a world already reeling from Trump’s tariffs.

Strategies for Investors During Trade Wars

Trade Wars anticipate a swift in market and business trends, investors and traders don’t need to fear or hide its consequences, but they need to find ways to navigate across these changeable times. There is a long list of strategies that can be considered according each case:

• Build an emergency fund

An emergency fund is crucial for financial health, as it prevents you from going into debt when unexpected expenses arise. The popular wisdom is that you should have six months’ of expenses saved, but even a couple thousand dollars is a good start and can prevent headaches down the line.

• Reduce debt and expenses

According to LendingTree, the average interest rate for a credit card in the U.S. is 24.2%. If you are carrying a balance on any of your credit cards, now is the time to put a plan in place for paying off those debts. During a recession, paying down debt and reducing expenses is essential. If you don’t already have a budget and a spending tracker, now is an excellent time to put these measures in place.

• Monitor Policy Trends and Global News 

Staying informed is more than just watching the headlines. Follow high-quality stock market news sources that break down policy developments and expertly analyse how proposed tariffs or trade agreements might affect key sectors. Tools like economic calendars, analyst commentary, and investor briefings can also help you anticipate market moves.

• Focus on Defensive and Resilient Sectors

Healthcare, utilities, and consumer staples often remain stable because they meet essential, ongoing needs regardless of global tensions.

Certain industries are more insulated from trade disruption. Healthcare, utilities, and consumer staples often remain stable because they meet essential, ongoing needs regardless of global tensions. In the meantime, make sure you have exposure to assets like stocks and bonds, and commodities like gold, which has been a strong player in these last few years of economic volatility.

• Adjust your investment strategy

Too much exposure to the stock market could mean significant losses, a thing you especially want to avoid if you’re nearing retirement. Even in times of economic prosperity, retirees should look to trade in the bulk of their stock options for safer investments such as bonds, high-yield savings accounts and inflation-protected securities.

• Explore International and Emerging Market Exposure

While U.S.-based investors often default to domestic equities, consider exposure to emerging markets or developed economies that may benefit from trade realignments. ETFs and mutual funds focused on global diversification can reduce reliance on any single economy.

• Use the Best Investing Tools 

Navigating uncertainty isn’t a solo sport. A trusted investing tool that can offer lightning-fast insights based on your personal risk tolerance, goals, and time horizon – saving you both time and money in the long run.

• Keep a Long-Term Perspective

Knee-jerk reactions to market turbulence rarely end well. Focus on your long-term goals and avoid panic selling. History shows that markets tend to recover over time, even after geopolitical shocks.

Conclusion

Trade wars generate short-term chaos and long-term structural shifts. While they introduce volatility and uncertainty, they also create inflection points that can redefine industries. The key isn’t just to react, it’s to anticipate: monitor policy signals, follow supply chain movements, and identify which regions or sectors stand to gain from the fallout.

In fact, volatile periods can be an opportunity, if approached with a clear, long-term strategy.

For investors, the goal isn’t to avoid exposure to affected stocks or industries altogether, but to understand where the risks lie and how long-term trends might evolve. By keeping a close eye on trade policy developments, sectoral impact, and real-time supply chain responses, investors can position themselves not just to weather the turbulence—but to capitalize on the structural shifts that follow. In uncertain times, informed positioning is the sharpest edge.

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During his first term as U.S. President, Trump famously rolled back numerous environmental regulations, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, and frequently criticized ESG initiatives as a form of unnecessary government overreach.

With the new Trump administration, attacks on academic freedom by him and other Republicans became routine in 2024. Vice President-elect JD Vance called professors “the enemy”.

Yet geopolitical tensions, economic problems such as inflation, nationalism, conspiracy theories, fake news and anti-immigration and anti-globalisation sentiments and policies have gradually brought about a much more negative opinion about education and science.

In the United States, confidence in higher education fell to 36% in 2023, a 12% decline from 2018. Similar declines can be seen elsewhere, although not as precipitous as in the United States. Early signs of this deterioration of confidence were already present during the first Trump administration and in other countries with right-wing nationalist governments, such as Hungary. But in 2024 these signs also turned into policy in several other countries. Global higher education is facing an even more difficult year in 2025 and it keeps going!

Threats to Academic Freedom and Institutional Autonomy

Within days of the inauguration of his second term, Trump signed at least three executive orders ending DEI programs in the federal government and withdrew from the Paris Accord for a second time. Some major U.S. brands have jumped on the bandwagon since the election, and several universities and university systems – particularly public schools in Red States that rely on federal money – have also pulled back on DEI initiatives amid Republican crackdowns.

One of the biggest targets in the political crosshairs of Trump and his allies is DEI – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Backlash momentum has been steadily growing since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions in June 2023, and conservatives are increasingly citing the ruling in broader DEI debate. At least 22 states have banned or rolled back DEI measures at public universities and/or government agencies, and now Trump seems to be looking for ways to entice U.S. corporations to follow suit.

With the new Trump administration, attacks on academic freedom by him and other Republicans became routine in 2024. Vice President-elect JD Vance called professors “the enemy”.

The Trump administration almost immediately began cutting off billions in funds in highly renowned universities, which the administration says it is devoted to rooting out antisemitism: Columbia; George Washington University; Harvard; Johns Hopkins University; New York University; Northwestern; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Minnesota; and the University of Southern California. The government has also told the university not to expect grant money in the future

During the second term of the Trump’s administration, billions in funds for research have been also frozen, while administration officials have also tried to prevent universities from enrolling international students. Investments in research and development (R&D) will more likely decline than increase.

The US and in general the Global North, are implementing policies to limit skilled immigration and admissions of international students. Reflecting on their latest Open Doors statistics, the Institute of International Education pointed out that international student numbers in the United States are up, but their own figures and those of others show that the numbers of newly admitted international students are actually down, and Trump administration plans will make studying in the United States even less attractive.

Impact on Higher Education and Talent

In its 2024 plan, the right-wing Dutch government mentioned the importance of innovation 85 times, but then cut the budget for higher education and research by €1 billion (US1.03 billion) a year (later reducing this amount to half a billion after pressure from the opposition – and taking that money away from healthcare).

In their biannual meeting in Tirana from 29 to 30 May 2024, the Bologna Declaration ministers of education in Europe adopted the key academic values of autonomy, academic freedom, academic integrity, participation of students and staff in governance and society’s responsibility for higher education, while at the same time these values are being attacked continuously by several of its participating governments.

In a recent interview in Times Higher Education, the Hungarian minister of education called Hungarian universities “normal” institutions when, in fact, the Orbán government has robbed them of their autonomy and academic freedom.

While Governments in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are working on strongly reducing international student enrolments, these are also facing opposition from tech companies and the higher education sector. For many tech companies, recruiting internationally is the key to meeting the demand for tech and engineering talent.

Moreover, the actions taken by the U.S. administration to restrict international student enrollment and tighten visa regulations have significantly impacted how international students perceive the U.S. as a destination for education. And this change of scenario can lead to the loss of talent in America becoming a Europe’s gain.

Overall, the governments’ aims for restricting international students from accessing Management programs crashes with the increase demand for fresh global talent from tech companies. A survey from global talent marketplace Andela found that 88% of enterprise companies are looking for top tech talent in other countries.  And with tech talent in high demand around the world, enterprises are increasing efforts to recruit international tech talent and open tech hubs in foreign countries.

But some countries are attracting tech talent from abroad at higher rates than others — such as The Netherlands, Germany, and the UK. These countries offer competitive salaries, a lower cost of living compared to other major tech hubs, and better opportunities for quality of life and work-life balance.

Geopolitics in European Management Education

Shifting global politics and rising global challenges are directly impacting higher education around the world. In an era where geopolitics has become a daily used keyword, and where decisions at a global level have an impact on our domestic lives, management education must integrate geopolitics as a natural way to expand and adapt to the new reality.

Neoma, in northern France, for example, has just introduced a geopolitics course to the first year of its Master in Management (MiM), taught jointly by professors at the school and at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations. The module aims to help future managers anticipate threats and crises. One session, for instance, is devoted to doing business in wartime, another on mitigating geopolitical risk.

“Geopolitics used to be reserved for strategists and diplomats, but it’s become an essential skill now in a world where the lines between politics and business are increasingly blurred,” says MiM director Imen Mejri. “A serious geopolitical understanding is indispensable for anyone closely or remotely linked to the international arena” he adds.

As part of its core curriculum, Vlerick Business School, in Belgium, runs two courses preparing students for geopolitical and macro challenges. “Fickle geopolitics affects corporate strategy, its implementation and long-run decision-making,” says David Veredas, professor of sustainable finance. “Any MiM student who aspires to become a corporate leader needs to understand the mega trends that drive geopolitics”

“The main skills are reflective thinking and a joy of reading,” Veredas adds. “Future corporate leaders need to stay ahead of the curve and consider the big picture, and that requires time to reflect and to read.”

Nova School of Business and Economics, in Portugal, has introduced modules on international migration and what it calls “wicked global leadership”. “It’s the capacity of leaders to tackle wicked problems — problems so complex that they resist understanding, let alone resolution,” explains Professor Milton de Sousa. “To tackle wickedness, leaders need to immerse themselves in the context directly while engaging with stakeholders at multiple levels in the search for shared understanding and practical solutions,” he adds. “I want MiM students to grasp the skills of paradoxical thinking, complexity leadership, and humble inquiry.”

Conclusion

At its best, academic freedom depends on open borders, open debate, and open minds. But as Trump-era policies target international students, crack down on campus activism, and threaten funding for schools that don’t dismantle their DEI programs, many around the world are wondering if that freedom is at risk.

Talent doesn’t have a nationality, neither should it be perceived or filtered as such. The tech industry and its unstoppable development is rooted in its global, international, multicultural and inclusive nature. The Tech growth which already covers and enhances so many aspects of our lives, is pushing out boundaries from narrow minds and crashes with narrower decisions wanting to maintain the certain hierarchy unrealistic in today’s world.

The future of European Management Education is on a path to reinvent itself, to become greater and wider, to become more inclusive, and to gain attractiveness to attract foreigner talent. These traits are the result of both, market and the society demand.

Geopolitics have become part of our lives, the decisions made at a global level have an impact in shaping our reality. These certainly also shape the labour market and affect balance or imbalance between offer and demand, hence integrating these in the Management Education studies is a must.

The post The Future of European Management Education: In a Time of Geopolitical Tension, Global Realignment, and Mounting Threats to Academic Freedom and Institutional Autonomy appeared first on The European Business Review.

The Donald Trump administration stated that “using Huawei Ascend chips anywhere in the world violates US export controls.” The logic is that even if it’s a Chinese-made semiconductor, if it contains US technology, it is subject to US export regulations, a measure to prevent Chinese AI chips from expanding their presence in the global market.

The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) provided the industry with a notice containing this information, specifying Huawei Ascend 910B, 910C, and 910D series as chips with a high possibility of violating export control regulations. Recently, these have been widely used in China for AI training and inference and have been noted as alternatives to NVIDIA products.

Additionally, BIS plans to warn companies and consumers about the consequences when US AI chips are used for AI model training and inference in China. The plan is to block China’s strategy of indirectly securing advanced US AI chips through third countries.

Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang warned that export controls on its highest-end chips, as part of US government initiatives to restrict China’s access to AI technology that began under Joe Biden, could cost the company $50 billion.

This is probably the first time we have seen mention of the AI chips in official documents, and this shows how far Huawei has come with its Ascend AI lineup. It is revealed that the use of Ascend accelerators anywhere in the world will be considered a violation of US export control, which shows that the Trump administration doesn’t want these chips to end up anywhere apart from China, limiting their scope of influence.

Also, the use of US AI chips, particularly from NVIDIA, to train Chinese AI models will now be much more scrutinized. This could be done by integrating “tracking features” into NVIDIA chips to see where they end up. This is very much a possibility now, given that a bill to implement this is now with the US Senate, so it won’t be long before we see AI chips coming with location tracking features or even a kill switch.

NVIDIA Challenged Monopoly

Amazon unveiled its latest AI chips last month in a bid to reduce its dependence on market leader Nvidia and take a share of a multibillion-dollar market.

Central to this effort is the introduction of Trainium 2, Amazon’s newest chip built for training massive AI models. Amazon is hardly alone. A growing cohort of Big Tech companies are eager to challenge the commanding lead of Nvidia in designing cutting-edge AI chips.

Nvidia has been at the forefront when it comes to supplying chips that power large language models, such as the one used by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Nvidia’s near monopoly has propelled the company’s valuation past $3.4 trillion, leaving competitors including AMD scrambling to close the gap.

In November, Nvidia reported an impressive 94 per cent annual revenue growth for the third quarter, reaching a record $35.1 billion. Questions remain, however: how long can Nvidia stay on top? And how can it do so? As Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang stated: how can the company keep growing when it already has the largest market share of AI chips?

Some of Nvidia’s biggest customers, including Amazon, Microsoft and Google, are spending billions of dollars to build their own custom chips. In many ways, Big Tech’s push to unseat Nvidia is a familiar story: develop in-house hardware to reduce reliance on outside suppliers, cut costs and achieve tighter control over one’s own technology.

But overthrowing Nvidia is no small feat, even for these tech giants. They all rely on the same manufacturing partner: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest chip manufacturer. Because TSMC produces chips for so many companies, no single rival gains a manufacturing edge over Nvidia. Furthermore, TSMC’s pricing structure favours those placing larger orders. Companies such as Nvidia benefit from lower per-unit costs, reinforcing an already sizeable advantage.

HUAWEI’s Towards Independence

China’s race for technological independence gains momentum as Huawei develops a new AI processor designed to challenge Nvidia’s dominance. Huawei is developing its own AI semiconductors to replace NVIDIA’s high-performance AI semiconductors. It is showing moves to solve all processes, including semiconductor design, production, and packaging, in China. Recently, satellite images of a semiconductor factory Huawei is building in Shenzhen were reported by the Financial Times (FT).

According to tech industry and company data, the performance of Huawei’s latest semiconductor ‘Ascend 910C’ has reached 60-80% of NVIDIA’s flagship product ‘H100.’ The price is 70-80% cheaper than the H100.

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup gaining attention in the global AI market, used low-spec NVIDIA semiconductors in the AI development process but used Huawei products in the AI service process.

When China-based DeepSeek launched its AI platform in January – it was virtually free and hyped to be even better that ChatGPT and the rest of the field, upending the entire AI world. Then in March, DeepSeek itself was usurped by the launch of Qwen, the open-source generative AI service from Alibaba. All share three common denominators – China-made, lower-priced and improving, if not already better, in quality.

It remains to be seen if big AI chip players will be affected by Huawei’s new launch. But if DeepSeek taught us anything, it is that any new platform can be disruptive, costly and may cause a shift in perception on US tech, the argument being it is possible to create something good for cheaper.

The launch of R1 DeepSeek AI updated model in January sent tech shares outside China plummeting and challenged the view that scaling AI requires vast computing power and investment. Since R1’s release, Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent have released models claiming to surpass DeepSeek’s.

US pushing for exports in the Middle East

Coinciding with President Trump’s Middle East tour, NVIDIA decided to supply 18,000 of its latest AI chips, the GB300 Blackwell, to Humane, a company owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. It plans to supply hundreds of thousands of advanced chips over the next few years. These chips will be used in data centers being built by Saudi Arabia to foster AI.

Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration is pushing a deal to allow the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to import more than 1 million of NVIDIA’s advanced semiconductors. This is about four times more than what was allowed under the AI semiconductor export controls of the previous Joe Biden administration.

Unsurprisingly, Chinese experts characterize the United States’ Middle East policy under Trump as transactional and commercially driven, mostly in negative terms. More bluntly, Liu Zhongmin, professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), characterized Trump’s visit as “a blatant money-making trip,” adding that:

“Trump aggressively leveraged the United States’ advantages to extract wealth from the Gulf states, even blatantly enriching himself and his family, a rare and overt display of greed rarely seen in previous U.S. presidents.”

The Trump administration is blocking Chinese AI chips while increasing exports of US AI chips. This aligns with what CEO Huang and other US big tech CEOs have recently said, that the US must supply more AI chips to the global market to win the AI competition with China.

On the other hand, the Founder of Huawei Technologies, Ren Zhengfei believes that AI is becoming unstoppable. It is creating turning points for many firms. If Huawei uses AI in the best ways, it could achieve more success in the time ahead. However, the company needs to put more effort into being at the top in the AI race.

Conclusion

Earlier this year DeepSeek upended beliefs that US export controls were holding back China’s AI advancements after the startup released AI models that were on a par with or better than industry-leading models in the United States at a fraction of the cost.

In the meantime, and as per the claimed performance of DeepSeek R1, Nvidia suffered the biggest one-day loss in sharemarket history, other tech giants – Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, who are investing heavily in competing AI tools including ChatGPT and Gemini – were also hit. Almost A$1 trillion (US$600 billion) was wiped off the value of artificial intelligence microchip maker Nvidia overnight, when a little-known Chinese startup, DeepSeek, threatened to upend the US tech market.

Stock prices are driven by market expectations. Investors have rapidly incorporated the news of a low-cost Chinese AI competitor into stock prices, anticipating this new entrant could disrupt the market and erode the competitive advantage of existing leaders.

An analogy can be found in the present situation between NVIDIA and Huawei Ascend chips, moreover the reliance that the first has on TSMC, reaffirms the US multinational vulnerability to navigate and seek fast sales in a highly competitive market.

Investors’ role – who are closely watching these vertiginous changes – is betting on the most advantageous and competitive deals taking place in the global market. NVIDIA’s tricky position is being globally exposed, while China tech advancements, which by all means, seem unstoppable, keep challenging the traditional US tech hegemony.

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The MBA, also known as a Master of Business Administration, has been the business degree for entrepreneurs and ambitious businesspeople to get. Many top CEOs and high earners in some of the most successful companies have either done some postgraduate work or earned their MBA, which has made it a popular degree to pursue for decades. Harvard introduced the Master of Business Administration degree in 1908. Today, an MBA is a graduate degree offered by business schools across the world.

MBA candidates come from exceptionally varied backgrounds. For example, only 24% of students in Harvard Business School’s class of 2024 studied business in college. Twenty-eight percent had engineering degrees, 14% studied physical sciences, 10% social sciences, 19% economics and 5% arts or humanities. While Harvard Business School is more diverse than many, undergraduate business majors make up less than half a class, on average, across a large sample of MBA programs.

Traditionally, earning an MBA has been an excellent way to stand out to potential employers. Many people still see it as a requirement to reach a C-suite title at a large company. But does it have the cache it used to have in today’s business world? Let’s explore some of the perceptions and changes on today’s MBAs:

MBA is Oversaturated

Meeting someone with an MBA used to be a novelty, and MBA graduates commanded a lot of respect with their detailed knowledge of business. But with the easy accessibility and the large number of people entering and finishing these programs, the market for employees with an MBA is oversaturated.

Further, many educators feel that because of the wide variety of MBA programs that exist today, the quality of the coursework has declined. Some also believe students are not receiving the education and business skills necessary to get a high-caliber job after graduation. To some, today’s students are not as well educated as MBA graduates in years past and aren’t as distinguished

At a time, only American students sought a master’s degree in business administration. But as the economies of places like Japan and China draw increasing attention, would-be businesspeople from Asia and elsewhere are seeking MBAs too. The same goes for people in Europe. As a result, the number of MBA graduates continues to increase, further diluting the value and uniqueness of the degree.

Switch in Employers’ Perception

Employers are starting to recognize that other qualifications are equally as important as having an MBA. It’s still more than that, though; employers are acknowledging that formal education isn’t the only way to be good at something valuable to a business. Internships and alternative experiences are increasingly accepted in lieu of degrees, which means there could be better ways to get to the places you want to go than spending time and money on an MBA. Furthermore, some companies today prioritize hiring for cultural fit over education and experience.

Also, a declining economy often means employers simply can’t afford to hire the best and brightest minds, especially those who request a higher salary to pay for their expensive business degrees. Why pay top dollar for a candidate with a generic MBA when it could be more efficient and cost-effective to teach another candidate your company’s specific operations? 

MBA vs Masters

GMAC data revealed prospective students’ interest in enrolling in masters degrees grew by 8% in 2024. By contrast, demand for MBA programs fell by 9%. However, across all aspiring business school students, the majority (52%) still preferred to study an MBA.

The report highlighted a link between increasing demand for masters degrees and the growing number of specialized programs on offer at business schools. These degrees provide students with the chance to explore highly relevant topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability, and data science. It also noted that changes in the survey methodology could have impacted results.

On a separate note, beyond competition among students, the MBA has its own academic competitor: the Master of Science. Many schools offer specialized M.S. programs in areas like finance, accounting and medical management. Earning an M.S. usually costs less than an MBA and takes only one year.

New MBA Roles Emerging From AI

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to revamp the business landscape, MBA programs worldwide are adapting their curricula to prepare future business leaders for these big transformations. The integration of AI into business education is not just about understanding new technology; it is about reshaping the way future leaders think, strategize and operate within their industries.

Roles that once relied heavily on manual business modeling, operational planning, and market analysis are now being supported – or even replaced – by AI tools. This doesn’t mean MBAs are obsolete. Quite the opposite: as automation scales, the human layer becomes more valuable. MBA graduates are now expected to move upstream – using insights from AI to lead initiatives, drive innovation, and guide ethical, customer-centered strategies.

In today’s business environment, MBAs must be fluent in interpreting data and making decisions with AI-driven insights. Leaders are expected to challenge black-box assumptions, understand limitations of predictive models, and guide teams through data-informed strategies. Familiarity with platforms and tools like Python, SQL, Tableau, ChatGPT and Salesforce Einstein is becoming the norm in tech-forward roles.

To lead in an AI-powered business world, MBA graduates need more than foundational business knowledge. They must be agile, tech-aware, and capable of translating innovation into strategy. Employers are looking for professionals who can not only understand the impact of AI, but also guide its application across teams and functions.

To sum this up, AI is lowering barriers to entry for aspiring founders. What once required teams of specialists can now be executed by small, agile groups using AI tools for product development, market testing, and strategy. For MBAs with entrepreneurial ambitions, this shift enables rapid experimentation and faster go-to-market strategies.

Emergence of hybrid MBA programs

In 2019, 50% of Online MBA programs reported growth in application volume. The COVID-19 pandemic really lit the touchpaper for Online MBAs though. In 2020, 84% of Online MBA programs reported growth, the highest change across any type of degree.

As many full-time MBA programs moved online, students who may not have considered studying online suddenly saw the benefits. The 2021 MBA.com Prospective Students Survey found that just over a fifth of students were more likely to consider online learning as a result of COVID-19.

For many, however, Online MBAs can’t fully replace what a full-time MBA can offer—whether that’s authentic networking or immersive learning. Instead, there’s growing momentum behind a hybrid model, where student learning is split between online and the classroom.

Interest in hybrid programs has doubled between 2018 and 2021, from 10% to 20% of candidates, according to GMAC’s survey.

Hybrid programs offer the best of both worlds: the flexibility and accessibility of Online MBAs with the tangible physical benefits of a campus-based program.

Warwick Business School’s Distance Learning MBA has topped the Financial Times Online MBA rankings since 2016: unlike 100% online programs, the program supplements its primarily online tuition with select opportunities for face-to-face interaction.

Conclusion

An MBA may not be as prestigious as it once was, but that doesn’t mean no one should pursue one. Studies still show that those with an MBA earn more than those with a bachelor’s degree alone. According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), MBA holders earn a median starting salary that’s 22 to 40 percent higher than bachelor’s graduates.

Besides a higher salary, an MBA can provide valuable networking opportunities you might not be exposed to otherwise. The connections you make while earning your MBA could lead to more career opportunities down the road. Additionally, if you’re exclusively focused on climbing the corporate ladder, an MBA provides a solid educational background and a great line on your résumé. Some traditional firms may even require it.

Online and hybrid MBAs will continue to offer a novel form of flexibility and accessibility when it comes to studying. They will attract candidates who wouldn’t have previously considered online learning, and candidates who wouldn’t ordinarily apply for business school. The integration of online teaching into hybrid MBA programs also offers the best of Online and full-time MBAs.

AI isn’t replacing MBAs – it’s redefining what they do. New hybrid roles are appearing that require both business acumen and AI fluency. These roles demand strong leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to connect technical innovation with strategic business value – all hallmarks of a top-tier MBA education.

The post The Future of MBAs: From the Switch of Employer’s Perception to AI Redefinition and the Emergence of Hybrid Programs appeared first on The European Business Review.

The Trump administration is restoring visas for hundreds of foreign students who had their legal status abruptly terminated stoking panic among many who feared immediate deportation. The same administration had threatened to cut funding and impose outside political supervision, by bringing several prestigious universities to heel over claims they tolerated campus anti-Semitism, threatening their budgets, tax-exempt status and the enrolment of foreign students. Trump’s war against universities has seen him threaten to cut federal funding over policies meant to encourage diversity among students and staff.

In the weeks since Columbia’s capitulation, over 1,800 international students have had their legal status changed, students and graduates have been arrested for espousing pro-Palestinian views, and academics have been denied entry into the US for expressing criticism of Trump.

Columbia University faced a $400 million loss in federal funding, the university capitulated to alarming demands from the Trump administration including ceding control of the department that offers courses on the Middle East, empowering security officers to arrest students, and placing new restrictions on protest.

Harvard has rejected the demands of the Trump administration, taking forward litigation alongside over 250 international students across 65 cases who are challenging the government’s decision to change their legal status. President Alan Garber stated that, “No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

In Cornell university earlier this month, 200 faculty members and students gathered for a demonstration against the Trump administration’s threats. Cornell has been threatened with $1 billion in federal funding losses and announced on April 14 that the institution is suing the government.

Trump’s administration has targeted these institutions primarily because of their response to campus protests against the war in Gaza, but also over their policies on racial diversity in admissions, cooperation with immigration enforcement and allowing transgender women to compete in sports.

A thread to Free Speech and the First Amendment

As of April 25, over 1,800 international students had seen their SEVIS records terminated or visas revoked, as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and alleged antisemitism, according to news reports and college statements. That’s far higher than Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s initial estimate of 300 students.

Rubio alleged students sought entrance into the U.S. “not just to study but to participate in movements that vandalize universities, harass students, take over buildings and cause chaos.” But aside from a few high-profile examples, it’s not clear exactly why most of the students have lost their legal status.

Attorneys for the students have argued that the revocations violate the students’ legal rights, and the fear of detention has prevented them from fulfilling their studies. Losing their SEVIS records left students vulnerable to immigration actions – and possible detention and deportation, according to Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. The Deportation for “Pro-Palestine or Anti-Israel Political Speech” may violate the First Amendment as the Court holds.

Among the most relevant student figures whose have been taken by immigration agents or had their legal status questioned are:

• Turkish graduate student Rumeysa Öztürk was detained by masked agents in plainclothes as she walked to meet friends for dinner. She says she is being targeted over an op-ed about Gaza that she wrote in the Tufts University student newspaper.
• Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested in his university housing despite being a legal permanent resident. He says he was taken over his peaceful protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
• Columbia University Ph.D. student Ranjani Srinivasan was accused publicly by the Department of Homeland Security of being a terrorist sympathizer, with no evidence, when she got notice that her visa was revoked. She chose to leave.

None of these students had been charged with a crime. Instead, the government is using a rarely invoked immigration act that allows the secretary of state to revoke immigration status if the secretary deems their presence a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Their cases raise concerns that more students could be targeted for their views. That alarm is found among free speech advocates across the political spectrum, including pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups that uphold the First Amendment for views they both agree and disagree with. Attorneys representing students across the country said that their clients had seen their records restored in recent days, according to NBC News.

Revenge and the Old Ideology Back

“I say it, and it sounds beautiful: ‘My revenge will be success,’” Trump said on a Fox News appearance in June 2024. “I mean that.”

Donald Trump came back into power making it clear he would use the public office of the presidency to extract personal revenge –Tom Foreman, Editor in Chief at CNN.

According to the New York Times, about 25 years ago Trump fell out with Columbia over a property deal, suffering a loss of $400 million – the sum he now threatens to withdraw in federal funding. Perhaps a coincidence, but more likely an ill-advised payback. It is important to note that reprisals are levied to other institutions as well, such as law firms that have assisted in cases directed towards the new administration or Trump himself. We see the contours of a particular form of rule – a “retributocracy” where the urge for revenge appears to be a key driving force for political decisions.

Under the guise of fighting antisemitism, Republicans are resurrecting an old ideological project. In his 1966 gubernatorial campaign, Ronald Reagan weaponized public frustration with campus activism to launch a broader attack on California’s university system. He campaigned on the promise to “clean up the mess at Berkeley,” casting student demonstrators as Communists, beatniks, sexual deviants, and a threat to the American way of life. He strongly opposed affirmative action, calling it “reverse discrimination,” and believed that education should service the economy, not democracy.

Once in office, Reagan slashed funding for California’s public universities and pushed to end free college education altogether. “The state should not subsidize intellectual curiosity,” he said at the time, crystallizing a vision of education as a privilege, not a public good, that has subsequently been adopted by much of the American right. But Reagan’s agenda wasn’t just about restoring order on campus. It was a strategy to restrict access to education and, with it, suppress dissent.

His contempt for working-class intellectual empowerment was made explicit by his education adviser Roger A. Freeman in 1970. “We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat,” Freeman said. “That’s dynamite! We have to be selective on who we allow [to go to college]. If not, we will have a large number of highly trained and unemployed people.” Education can be radicalizing, in other words, and shouldn’t be available to the working masses.

In 1969, Reagan and the University of California Regents granted themselves the power to review all permanent faculty appointments. That same year, under pressure from Reagan, the UCLA administration moved to fire the radical academic and activist Angela Davis from her position in the Philosophy Department, citing her membership in the Communist Party. Reagan criticized the humanities and the emerging fields of gender and ethnic studies. He promoted the idea that public universities should focus more on technical skills and job training. He cut federal spending for the arts and humanities by millions of dollars, while directing funds to STEM programs to bolster “economic and military strength.” On the presidential campaign trail in 1980, he promised to abolish the newly created Department of Education, and in the final days of his presidency, in 1988, praised an educational curriculum that celebrated “the glory of Western civilization.”

Conclusion

It wasn’t as if universities in the US had been tolerant of mass protests in the past. Universities called the cops on their students back in the 1960’s and 1970’s when they staged sit-ins for civil rights or protested against America’s war in Vietnam as well. In May 1970, the US National Guard killed four student protesters and wounded nine others at Kent State University in Ohio. That same month, two students were also killed and 12 others wounded by local law enforcement at Jackson State University in Mississippi.

It has always been in the nature of universities in the US – with their top-down approaches to running campuses – to  do everything they can to suppress civil disobedience in any form, to punish students for even attempting to organise protests. With the widespread strong-armed responses to the anti-genocide protests this spring and the broad revisions to regulation at almost every campus aimed at squashing any potential renewal of such protests this fall, however, one thing is clear. Today, the American university – just like the American nation-state – is once again at peak repression. It has transformed fully into a corporate-like entity that view silencing dissent and maintaining order and obedience as part of its mission statement.

Trump’s policy on universities is not simply about campus unrest. It is about who controls knowledge, who defines the boundaries of acceptable discourse, and who gets to access the means of intellectual and political empowerment. Donald Trump is reviving this very playbook, albeit with updated language and a different set of enemies. Trump, similarly, has called universities “indoctrination centers” and vowed to “vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses.” This effort is not a break from the past but its logical continuation.

US politics are lose to the edge of falling into a totalitarian regime; this is a president who has described Hungarian President Viktor Orbán as “fantastic … There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader”. Orbán also attacked academic freedom, seizing control of numerous institutions in 2021.

Trump is not hiding his agenda; Trump 2028 merchandise is already on sale. He wants to emulate his autocratic heroes, and if he succeeds, it won’t just be Americans who suffer, but all of us.

The post Trump’s War on USA Universities Evokes the Old Ideology: A Threat to Diversity and Free Speech appeared first on The European Business Review.

As European Union’s founding architect Jean Monnet predicted: ‘Europe will be forged in crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises.’ Once again, these words ring true.

The bureaucratic burden on businesses in the EU, substantially greater than in major international competitors, discourages entrepreneurs initiatives. On this note, EU policymakers have recognized that attempting to grow the European economy under the current bureaucratic burden is like trying to run a marathon wearing iron shoes.

In addition the crisis of identity manifested in political divisions, surging radical-right parties, lack of clear positioning towards international imminent human rights matters and sinking national budgets is gripping many European countries. As a result, the EU leadership is seriously threatened in this ongoing changing times.

The EU is also losing ground in terms of competitiveness. Mario Draghi’s last September’s report estimates that Europe requires an additional €750-800 billion in investments annually. This gap is particularly noticeable in the technology sector—artificial intelligence, social networks, and smartphones predominantly come to Europeans from the US, China, or other countries.

EU Endless Bureaucracy

Over the past five years, the EU has introduced approximately 13,000 new regulations, compared to only about 5,000 by the United States. The Handelsblatt reported on a study that analyzed 11,000 European startups from 17 countries. It shows that 6 percent of the startups that received their first funding between 2000 and 2014 moved their headquarters abroad. Most of them went to the USA.

Although six percent does not seem like an excessive amount, these startups are extremely successful: they contribute 17 percent to the total company value created by startups in Europe, based on the valuations of IPOs or company sales. According to the study, startups with foreign investors in particular are likely to relocate their headquarters – usually to the country of the investor.

The European Commission has repeatedly unveiled ambitious plans to combat bureaucracy and reinvigorate the European economy, as President Ursula von der Leyen last emphasized the need for Europe to “reboot its innovation engine,” during the announcement of the “European Competitiveness Compass,” on January 29, 2025, in Brussels. The plan is outlining measures to boost the EU’s economy over the next five years.

One of the most significant initiatives announced is the objective to reduce reporting requirements by 35% for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and by 25% for larger corporations. This effort aims to simplify cumbersome regulations related to environmental sustainability and corporate accountability. The Commission aims to provide much-needed relief to thousands of companies stifled by regulatory demands, as Von der Leyen stated, “We must correct our weaknesses to regain competitiveness,” which speaks volumes about the urgency of the situation. However, despite these initiatives to cut bureaucracy, effective efforts to tackle the issue have kept failing.

This is not the first attempt to ease bureaucracy—similar promises were made in the 2015 “Better Regulation Agenda” and the 2017 Industrial Strategy. Yet, the introduction of new bureaucracy has consistently outpaced efforts to eliminate old regulations.

More than half of Europe’s fastest growing technology start-ups are struggling to cope with EU bureaucracy, a new survey has found. Yet the burden of endless bureaucracy in Europe leads to an ongoing trend of European startups crossing the Atlantic to scale. Research by London-based VC Hoxton Ventures found that nearly all European startups with over $500mn in revenue — including Spotify, Wise, and Adyen — succeeded by winning the US market.

Rise of the Far-right

A second concern is the rising influence of radical-right parties, which are much more influential on the national level than the European one. Far-right parties already form part of seven government coalitions in the EU and even where they are not in government, their Euroskeptical “nation-first” mindset has been gaining ground also in the political center.

The triumph of the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) at the Austrian parliamentary election; the success of the ANO party in the Czech regional elections; and the strong showing of Alternative for Germany (AfD) in eastern Germany; the party Rebirth (Vazrazhdane) registered a 13.5% in the election of June in Bulgaria; Finland’s actual government has been described as the most right wing in the last 80 years; the rise of the National Rally in France has been relevant in the last years: nowadays the far-right party can count on 125 deputies in the National assembly; after the elections of April, the far right party Homeland Movement (Domovinski Pokret) in Croatia was included in the government coalition by the conservatives; Hungary: Orban, head of the far right party Fidesz; in addition to this, in the 2022 elections, Mi Hazánk Mozgalom, far right party, was able to enter the Parliament, obtaining more than the minimum to obtain seats (5%); Romania has registered a real increase of movements and parties in favour of far right positions, such as: the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AU), SOS Romania and the Youth Party.

The increase presence of far-right members in powerful committee leadership positions could not only influence the EU political agenda, but also lead to a normalization of the far right within the European Parliament and progressively undermine democratic values. Their growing prominence in the EU could have a negative effect on women’s rights, press freedoms and the competent management of migration issues, which are some of the key matters aligned to values which at first presumably inspire the construction of the EU bloc.

Unclear role in International Conflicts

For the past two and a half years, the European Union has remained conspicuously silent and largely irrelevant regarding Gaza and broader Middle East tensions. Some European states such as France, Spain, Italy, Belgium and the UK have reduced arms sales to Israel. But despite these policies, there is no EU arms ban on Israel. In fact, Germany provides one-third of Israel’s arms, and has even increased these exports in the second half of 2024

The EU is Israel’s largest trading and investment partner and the foremost partner in terms of people-to-people exchanges. European nations also provide around one-third of Israel’s arms imports. Additionally, the EU maintains an association agreement with Israel, the most extensive and advantageous among agreements signed with non-EU countries. Thus, the EU’s silence reflects a deliberate unwillingness to act. Austria, Hungary, Germany and the Czech Republic are Israel’s closest allies in the EU, and it is very unlikely that they would vote in favour of sanctions.

Borrel, represented one of the few voices in top European political positions calling for decisive action to stop Israel’s war on Gaza. He often clashed with the EU member states that are more supportive of Israel. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, usually aligned herself with this group of countries.

In what respects to the conflict happening in Congo, the European Parliament, in a strong resolution slammed the inaction of European Union executives on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group is committing grave violations of the laws of war. Calling out the EU’s “lack of coherence” and “inconsistent messages” to Rwanda, lawmakers pressed the European Commission and member states to put real pressure on those fueling atrocities in Congo, starting with Rwanda, the M23’s main backer.

Loss of Competitiveness

It is no exaggeration to say that Europe has been in economic decline for at least a decade. The bloc has been losing the economic competition with the US, China and others. Internally, the prioritization of vested national interests by EU member states has inhibited further integration.

There is also a funding gap that requires the EU to mobilize an additional €750-€800 billion a year, as much as 5 per cent of the EU’s GDP, to keep pace with its main competitors. For instance, the EU is dramatically lagging behind America and others in the ongoing scientific and technological revolution.

Mario Draghi exhaustive report on EU’s competition and trade policies proposed a more coordinated approach to decarbonization and industrial policy, and for the integration of capital markets and reduction of the regulatory burden of European business. Ramping up investments will, according to Draghi, also require a considerable amount of additional public funding. The proposal considers enhancing Europe’s productivity as the key requirement for its future competitiveness and, to this end, sets out an array of far-reaching reform proposals.

The International Monetary Fund noted that the EU’s share of world GDP, in purchasing power parity terms, has fallen significantly from 23% to 14% in about three decades. This economic weakening is reflected in per capita income, an indicator of a society’s wealth and economic stability. In these terms, the gap between the EU and the US has widened by 68 percentage points since 2008. This means that Europe has a lower capacity to innovate and invest in technology and human capital, widening economic and social disparities.

In particular, the EU faces a significant gap in the development and adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G or quantum computing, in an era of ever shorter innovation cycles. The lack of scale and momentum in technological innovation is reflected, for example, in private investment in generative AI in 2023: $1.7 billion in Europe compared to $23 billion in the US, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.

There is no doubt that in the era of the digital and global economy, competitiveness must revolve around digital leadership and recognise the fundamental role of the telecoms sector, with its infrastructure, digital services, and reach, in driving productivity, economic growth, job creation and prosperity. However, the sector is losing competitiveness in the EU, affecting its rate of innovation and investment. According to ETNO, while the US invests €240 per capita in network deployment, Europe invests only €109, less than half.

Conclusion

The construction of the EU was inspired by visionary leaders with a genuine identity and strong motivation to create a project of inclusion, peace and stability. Yet this idealist project seems to crash against the rollercoaster of today’s Geopolitics, the unstoppable tech revolution and the
zigzagging economy landscape.

Compared to 1950, when French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presented his plan for a deeper cooperation, proposing integrating the coal and steel industries of Western Europe, today’s business world is ferociously competitive.

The almost vertiginous advances of Tech, push and demand for quick and effective decisions to cover companies and entrepreneurs, needing nothing but agile and supportive infrastructures.

EU regulatory density, and its legal framework filling many thousands of pages is blocking, and often sadly discouraging the entrepreneurship talent, which end moving away from the EU block to regions where doing business becomes easier.

The overthinking and the politically correctness that characterises the Old Continent don’t help in today’s changeable world of Geopolitics, where things moving fast and in drastic ways, this which would require for the leading actors to make no popular decisions.

Europe’s ambiguous positioning regarding pressing international humanitarian matters, is conflicting the very same principles of the bloc’s creation – an inclusive space motivated by human rights values, away from the dark horrors of war, standing for moral values.

The European Union is seriously struggling to catch up in these challenging times, hence moving away from purely institutional thinking and adapting to today’s reality, is crucial to, not only preserve the EU’s leadership, but most important to preserve its very survival.

The post Endless Bureaucracy, Rise of the Far- Right, Unclear Role in International Conflicts, Loss of Competitiveness – Is the EU Leadership in Crisis? appeared first on The European Business Review.

The Philippine Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry employs about 1.7 million people and generated nearly US$38 billion in revenue in 2024. It contributes 8.5% to the country’s GDP, representing one of the most reliable drivers of national progress. These figures do not include freelancers who provide services via platforms like Freelancer.com, Remotasks, UpWork, and Fiverr – up to 1.5 million Filipinos are registered on international online platforms for freelancing services.

Yet the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is rapidly transforming employment in this dynamic industry. Many BPO workers are at risk of job loss as AI increasingly automates customer support tasks, including individuals who perform voice-based services and write social media and market content.

AI tools can now engage with customers worldwide without language barriers, thus diminishing companies’ plans for outsourcing their services to any single country. That will be especially the case if businesses in higher-income countries choose to invest in AI solutions instead of continuing to outsource services to humans abroad.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) has been one of the most dynamic sectors of the Philippine economy over the past 25 years – 1.82 million Filipinos employed nationwide, with the sector outpacing the global outsourcing average of 3.5% by achieving 7% growth in 2024 -. By tapping into a large pool of English-speaking college graduates and having an affinity with the United States and its culture, the Philippines has become a leading beneficiary of international subcontracting of certain business functions to overseas vendors.

Today, US firms and companies around the world rely on Philippines-based workers to perform voice and non-voice services such as data entry and analysis, customer service, document transcription, IT support, fulfilment of e-commerce orders, software development, sales and marketing, game development, payment processing, accounting, and other tasks, including creative services and design. Among the sectors that outsource activities to the Philippine BPO industry are IT, health care, legal, and finance. Hundreds of BPO companies operate in Metro Manila, Cebu City, and other Philippine urban centres like Clark, Davao, and Iloilo

However, rapidly emerging AI-driven technologies, including virtual assistants, chatbots, and automated customer service platforms, have begun to take over tasks previously handled by humans, especially for routine customer inquiries and screening and directing customers’ calls. Indeed, the rapid adoption of chatbots to answer common questions threatens to suppress demand for entry-level customer service representatives. New technologies are being quickly adopted to improve efficiency, consistency, and quality while simultaneously lowering costs. Even companies that prioritize a human touch are forced to use the tech to satisfy clients who are demanding greater automation.

Transforming Jobs

It estimates that the number of BPO industry jobs in the country will actually increase by 1.1 million between the end of 2023 and 2028. While AI has been displacing workers in the Philippines and in other countries — it has also created new employment opportunities. People continue to be needed to perform tasks like classifying content, coding, data editing, strategy and annotating.

As routine tasks are automated, the need for advanced technical skills — such as programming, managing, and maintaining AI systems — is growing. The Philippines’ BPO industry has historically prioritized a workforce with strong communication abilities over technical expertise. However, the transition to AI demands workers skilled in data analytics, machine learning, and AI system management.

For instance, BPO firms can use machine learning algorithms to automate many of their repetitive tasks to free up human workers to do higher-value operations. They can also leverage AI to produce insights and accurate data analyses.

BPO companies can also use AI to improve processes already there, and accurately predict customer needs and trends, giving business leaders the opportunity to make well-informed decisions. These insights also allow companies to improve their recruitment and training strategies.

Individuals are also being employed to differentiate objects and living beings in videos that are used to formulate the algorithms for autonomous driving and to label images so that AI can, for example, generate representations of public figures. Technological solutions are not infallible, and many require — or at least benefit from — human involvement. For example, AI can be used to analyze large amounts of data quickly, providing initial insights that help BPO workers resolve complex customer issues more efficiently.

Need for Policy

For the industry to comprehensively adapt to the coming wave of AI innovation, government and industry leaders need to co-operate to develop policies and practices that boost investment in AI education and training. Such collaboration is also important for nurturing opportunities that arise through a human-AI hybrid approach, which could help mitigate the negative impacts of AI on employment.

The CCAP, a non-profit organisation consisting of more than a hundred local BPO firms, has been a strong supporter of AI integration in the Philippines. The group recently reiterated its stance that generative AI can benefit not only contact centres but other IT-BPM companies as well.

Since 86% of Filipino white-collar workers already use AI to “boost productivity, efficiency and creativity,” according to the 2024 Work Trend Index created by LinkedIn and Microsoft; advanced language, emotional recognition, and generative AI tools have made work more demanding for BPO workers, and outsourcing clients are requiring more automation and AI integration in workflows, the chances for AI technology to become a contribution to the BPO force rather that a constrain are greater than ever.

Conclusion

AI represents both a challenge and an opportunity for the Philippine BPO industry. The automation of routine tasks, cost-efficiency of AI, and changing skill demands pose significant risks to the industry and those employed within it. However, by investing in upskilling, embracing AI as a complementary tool, and adopting policies that foster innovation, the industry can adapt and continue to thrive in the future.

AI technologies allow agents to concentrate on more important tasks such as completing complex transactions. This would result in better productivity, as well as a much more positive experience for both workers and customers.

Yet policies that encourage investment in AI education and training could help mitigate the negative impacts of automation. Additionally, fostering partnerships between educational institutions, private companies, and the government to develop AI-related curricula could help equip the workforce with the necessary skills to thrive in the evolving job market.

The key lies in being proactive, adaptable, and forward-thinking, ensuring that the Philippines remains a global leader in outsourcing services in an AI-driven world. Thinking more ambitiously, there is even potential for the Philippines to position itself as a hub for AI services, providing expertise in AI management, data annotation, and machine learning model training.

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U.S. President Donald Trump shared his vision of a Gaza Strip to clear its nearly 2 million Palestinian inhabitants by relocating them to new homes else were, so that the US could send troops to the Strip, take ownership, develop it into an international beach resort under U.S. control and build the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

To see an American president endorse what would be the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their home – many made makeshift shelters in the ruins of their homes destroyed in Israeli’s onslaught against Hamas -, is an open amoral encouragement of an exodus that would subvert decades of US policy, international law and basic humanity showed the most imperialist reflex, after he’s already threatened to annex the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada. He envisaged a real estate deal whereby he’d assume responsibility for Gaza and mastermind a job-creating urban regeneration project, included renewable energy, a light rail system, airports and harbors, digital governance and beachfront hotels. He called it an American “ownership position.” A better phrase would be colonialism for the 21st century.

In Trump’s recent public pronouncements on Gaza, there’s a crucial missing element — any sense that the Palestinian people would have a choice in their own destiny. As Aaron David Miller, a former US Middle East peace negotiator, said on CNN: “It’s not a real estate deal for them, it’s not even a humanitarian issue for them. It’s an existential issue.”

Gaza Riviera’s Plan Coined

Media reports suggest Trump’s idea was based on a 49-page document drawn up by Washington-based economics professor Joseph Pelzman last summer, and it revived an idea floated by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner a year ago.

During a Podcast talk last August, Pelzman said that in order to make his plan happen, Gaza needs to be “completely emptied out,” ; the US “can lean on Egypt” to accept refugees from Gaza because the country is in debt to the US, he suggested.

The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative.

Kushner was Trump’s senior White House adviser in his first term and played a key role in the Abraham Accords between Tel Aviv and four Arab countries in 2020. His Saudi-backed firm Affinity Partners “received the green-light from Israeli regulators to double its stake in Phoenix Financial Ltd”, which is a major Israeli financial firm and funds the construction of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The nod from Israeli regulators came days before Trump’s inauguration.

He stated that “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable… if people would focus on building up livelihoods… It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there but, from Israel’s perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.”

Trump’s February 5 statements on taking over and owning Gaza and resettling Gaza’s Palestinian population elsewhere, in “a beautiful area with homes and safety they can live out their lives in peace and harmony” because “the only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative. It’s right now a demolition site… Virtually every building is down.” Reaffirm previous talks around the subject to make 2 million Palestinians leave their homes and never return, something that could be classified as ethnic cleansing.

Old Rooted 21st White Colonialism

White colonial dreams of rights to other peoples’ lands can be traced as far back as the 1479 Treaty of Alcacovas, which established the principle that an area outside of Europe could be claimed by a European country, and was followed within 50 years by the Treaty of Tordesillas and the Treaty of Saragossa with which the Portuguese and the Spanish purported to divide the globe between themselves. There is a clear line from that to the infamous Berlin West Africa Conference 400 years later, attended by the US and all major European powers which established the legal claim by Europeans that all of Africa could be occupied by whoever could take it.

Similar proposals were enabled free trade laid out by the Berlin Conference 140 years ago gave birth to the horror that was the Congo Free State – a veritable hell that in 23 years claimed the lives of up to 13 million Congolese. The conference also supercharged and militarised what became known as the Scramble for Africa, which was accompanied by brutal wars of conquest, disease and campaigns of extermination. More than a century later, Africans are still living with the impact.

The precedent of using the protection and development of capitalism to justify colonial occupation is today reflected in Trump’s assertion that he will rebuild and internationalise Gaza, creating jobs and prosperity for “everyone”. In essence, Trump is unwittingly attempting to base his colonial claim on to Gaza on the doctrine: that he can impose American rule, in this case through expulsion of the natives, and that he will enable trade to flourish.

Real State over Dead Bodies

Since its inception, Israel has operated as a colonial power, fragmenting, dominating, and erasing the indigenous population. From the Nakba, when 750,000 Palestinians were violently cleansed, to the ongoing annihilation of Gaza, Israel’s actions mirror the extractive, exploitative logic of European colonial regimes. Like the First Nations in Canada or the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, Palestinians are treated as obstacles to progress: “progress” that envisions Gaza as Dubai, another capitalist playground.

Latest figures just before the ceasefire went into effect recorded at least 61,709 people killed, including 17,492 children. The figure for missing or presumed dead is 14,222 while 111,588 people, mostly women and children, have been wounded, a majority with life-altering injuries. Nearly 80 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure, especially in the north, has been completely destroyed.

The International Court of Justice has issued two advisory opinions concerning Israel and Palestine, the 9 July 2004 Advisory Opinion on the Wall, and the 19 July 2024 Advisory Opinion on Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The ICJ has no option but to issue a judgment confirming that Israel has perpetrated genocide, and that the issue of “intent” has been established.  It is a continuation of the Nakba, a continuation of the Zionist dream of taking the entire territory for the Israelis and expel the native Palestinians, as if they were not human, as if they did not matter, as if they had no rights.

At present, after 15 months of bombardment, Gaza is a “demolition site” in Trump’s words, that will require 10-15 years of reconstruction. His proposal drawn shocked reactions from Palestinians, Arab neighbouring countries and Western audiences who say it would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing and illegal under international law. However, the Gulf countries see a potential source of investment in rebuilding Gaza, Saudis have consistently said they won’t agree to this unless a clear path toward Palestinian statehood opens up, strongly rejecting offering any finance while a pathway to an independent Palestinian state remains closed.

Conclusion

Your fate is decided not by you, but by some ruler in a foreign capital, simply because they are stronger, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Colonial fantasies thrive on illusion. Past and present, imperial powers imagine emptying lands, redrawing borders, and erasing histories to achieve their ambitions. What Trump is proposing in Gaza and elsewhere is a return to old colonialism, and geopolitics run by the law of the jungle. That, after all, is what colonialism is in its most fundamental form. Your fate is decided not by you, but by some ruler in a foreign capital, simply because they are stronger, and there is nothing you can do about it. Trump’s obliviousness to the aspirations of Palestinians and his assumption that they’d prefer a modern housing development elsewhere showed a stunning naivety about the causes of the conflict. But it was reflected in an interaction in the Oval Office when he asked, “Why would they want to return? The place has been hell.” A reporter replied: “But it’s their home, sir. Why would they leave?”

It’s notable that two of the territories Trump has fixated on, Greenland and Gaza, are in some ways two of the last remaining holdovers of the colonial age. That’s not to say they’re the same: Greenland is an autonomous territory with meaningful self-rule, albeit ultimately under Danish sovereignty, while the status of Gaza is, to say the least, highly contested. (Hamas still largely controls internal governance; Israel maintains external control, while the UN and many human rights groups view it as occupied territory.) But both are home to a recognized people with a long claim to the land. And both are considered in some circles to be examples of the unfinished business of decolonization.

Ultimately, Gaza’s story is not only one of rubble or colonial violence but of enduring defiance. Palestinian resistance, like that of colonized peoples before them, reminds us that the colonial fantasy is doomed to fail. Tragically, this failure always comes at an unbearable human cost for which we must struggle to ensure that the perpetrators are finally held accountable.

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US President Donald Trump has announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports, following his signing on three separate executive orders imposing 25 percent on goods from Canada and Mexico, and 10% on all imports from China – – which has responded with its own measures.

He said that he planned to slap reciprocal tariffs on “every country” that imposes import duties on the U.S. “Very simply it’s if they charge us, we charge them,” he said on Air Force One, NBC News reported.

Trump’s policies come at a time when the US operates a large negative trade balance with the rest of the world. In 2024, the US operated a trade deficit in goods of more than $1.2tn (£970bn) with the rest of the world, but operated a surplus of nearly $300bn in services.

Figures from 2024 show that the US’s largest trade deficit was with China, at $296bn, followed by Mexico, at $172bn. These countries were among the first to have the threat of tariffs hanging over them.

Corporate America, outraged by the tariffs, has lobbied hard against them. Mainstream economists largely agree that Trump’s tariff plan will reignite inflation and slow US economic growth. Last month, the Wall Street Journal’s editors, who typically side with the president’s policies, called Trump’s tariff plan “the dumbest trade war in history.”

What are Tariffs

Tariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries. The companies that bring the foreign goods into the country pay the tax to the government. This happens when a country buys or imports more from other countries than it sells or exports to them.

Typically, tariffs are a percentage of a product’s value. The 10% tariff on Chinese goods means a product worth $10 would have an additional $1 charge applied to it. Firms may choose to pass on some or all of the cost of tariffs to customers.

Nearly a quarter of all steel used in the U.S. is imported, with the bulk of it from neighboring Mexico and Canada or close allies in Asia and Europe such as Japan, South Korea and Germany.

In 2024, the US received the most imports from Mexico, China and Canada. Each of these countries exported more than $400bn of goods into the US.

Mexico and Canada export a lot of vehicles to the US, as well as energy and oil. Machinery and electrical equipment also form a significant portion of Mexican exports to the US. Chinese exports include electronics, machinery and agricultural goods.

European and Asian allies – such as Germany, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam – are the next biggest exporters to the US, with the US importing more than $100bn of goods from each of these countries last year. The US imported $68bn of goods from the UK that year.

Tackling deficit

Trump has promised to expand tariffs for three primary purposes: to raise revenue, to bring trade into balance and to bring rival countries to heel.

America is running a massive budget deficit, and Trump has said the tariffs will make up for lost revenue — in particular, his 2017 tax cuts, which he has said he wants to extend and expand. In the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum last month, Trump predicted that his tariffs would bring in hundreds of billions of dollars — perhaps trillions of dollars — into the US Treasury.

But trade works both ways: the US is the world’s largest importer of goods, but China is the biggest exporter. Overall, when tallying the total value of imports versus exports, the US also has the world’s largest trade deficit, worth more than $1tn. According to the US International Trade Administration, the countries that the US has the largest trade deficits with are China and Mexico.

Figures from 2024 show that the US’s largest trade deficit was with China, at $296bn. For Mexico it was $172bn. These countries were among the first to have the threat of tariffs hanging over them. The US’s next largest deficits are with Vietnam – increasingly a gateway to the US for Chinese companies avoiding tariffs – followed by Ireland, Germany and Taiwan.

In what respects to the EU, the U.S. imported roughly $600 billion worth of goods from European Union member states in 2024, and as President Trump prepares to potentially extend his tariffs beyond metals to a wide range of products from allies, some product categories would be hit much harder than others in the latest “reciprocal” trade war move by the U.S. government.

Reciprocal effect

China slapped tariffs on US imports in a swift response to new US duties on Chinese goods, renewing a trade war between the world’s top two economies even as President Donald Trump offered reprieves to Mexico and Canada.

China’s Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% for US coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil, farm equipment and some autos. The Chinese government hit back with new tariffs on US exports and a series of retaliatory steps. Beijing said it had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) “to defend its legitimate rights and interests” in response to hiked US tariffs on Chinese goods.

European Union leaders have vowed the tariffs “will not go unanswered” and will be met with tough countermeasures, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians will “stand up strongly and firmly” against the hike.

U.S. trade war tariffs have generated more than $264 billion of higher customs duties collected for the U.S. government from importers, as of the end of last year, according to analytics and analysis from the Tax Foundation. Out of that total, $89 billion (34%) was collected during the Trump administration. The remaining $175 billion (64%) was collected during Biden’s term.

Currently, the national tariffs bill to the business world is $78 billion, based on the 2024 data from Trade Partnership Worldwide. That could rise to over $400 billion if all of Trump’s new and threatened tariffs, from steel and aluminum, to Mexico, Canada, China and the EU, are enacted.

Conclusion

Trump routinely criticizes American trade policy for “subsidizing” foreign countries, saying America is “losing” hundreds of billions of dollars to its neighboring nations. Trump is imprecisely talking about the trade gap, the difference between what America exports and imports. Some economists caution that Trump’s language about America’s trade gap presents an unfair representation of what has become a crucial mechanism for the US economy

Trump and his economic team have made many contradictory statements about the rationale for tariffs, leaving American multinational businesses unsure how to plan, and foreign countries unclear on how to negotiate. Trump launched massive and punishing import taxes on Canada and Mexico, only to postpone them for a month in exchange for relatively little from America’s neighbors. Across-the-board Chinese tariffs are on, but a repealed exemption on small items caused massive confusion at the US Postal Service and was temporarily put back in place. And more tariffs on steel and aluminum are expected to be announced Monday, before a potentially far more expansive reciprocal tariff plan is set to be announced later this week.

That may just be the beginning: Trump has hinted at launching tariffs on the European Union, and he has also promised a broader tariff on every single item that comes into the United States.

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Trump signals major shifts in Russia-Ukraine strategy. Can the new approach end the war and what is the price for Ukraine and Europe?

At a NATO meeting in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has outlined Trump’s Ukraine policy.

Hegseth states that Ukraine needs to abandon its “unrealistic aspiration” of returning to its pre-2014 borders and suggested that Ukraine should prepare for a negotiated agreement with Russia. That could mean losing territories such as the occupied Crimea and the region Donbass and Luhansk.

Hegseth also remarked that Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO is “not realistic” and that European nations “must shoulder the majority of future lethal and nonlethal support to Ukraine”.

Hegseth and Trump’s perspectives are dramatically different from Biden’s pro-Ukrainian policies. And it’s creating a stir in Europe.

Along with European colleagues, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, expresses concerns. “Why are we giving them [Russia] everything that they want even before the negotiations have been started?” said Kallas to a group of NATO defence ministers with their Ukrainian counterpart in Brussels. “It’s appeasement. It has never worked” said Kallas, adding that “a quick fix is a dirty deal”.

Trump: Negotiations to Start ‘Immediately’

Still, President Trump announced that negotiations to end the Ukraine war will start “immediately” following a phone conversation with Putin. Trump stated, “We [Trump and Putin] agreed to collaborate closely, including visits to each other’s countries. We have also decided to have our teams initiate negotiations right away.” Trump added that Putin agrees that it is “common sense” to end the conflict and that “I think we’re on the way to getting peace”.

Without specifying a date, Trump has announced a meeting between himself and Putin. “We’ll meet in Saudi Arabia,” Trump told reporters in the White House.

Towards peace, but on which terms?

With Trump and Putin seemingly having a meeting planned, peace negotiations can move fast – Likely too fast for Ukraine and EU leaders. A European NATO diplomat described the new U.S. approach as akin to forcing Ukraine’s “preemptive surrender”. Leaders in EU countries come across as aligned in saying “Don’t cut Ukraine out of the peace talks.“

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized, “Peace can only be achieved together. And that means: with Ukraine and with the Europeans”. Writing in all caps, Polish President Donald Tusk called for a “A JUST PEACE. Ukraine, Europe and the United States should work on this together. TOGETHER.”

Several other European leaders are today sharing similar messages, just like President Volodymyr Zelensky has long maintained that talks to end the war must include Ukraine. A point the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, also reiterated today.

If Ukraine and European nations are sidelined in peace talks, the fear is that Trump might push Ukraine into accepting a disadvantageous peace deal that could embolden Russia. Security guarantees – if not a NATO membership – will be a Ukrainian top priority in peace talks.

New American Demands to European NATO Partners

Back in Brussels, Hegseth announced new dynamics in the NATO alliance. Hegseth echoed Trump’s call for NATO members to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. This is something that European leaders have long anticipated, even if the increased American demands will likely challenge some European economies.

From Brussels, Al Jazeera’s reporter, Hashem Ahelbarra, says: “Hegseth has said very clearly today that from now onwards, the Europeans have to understand that given the stark geopolitical developments globally, the Americans won’t be primarily focused on Europe’s security. There are other challenges, and on top of that agenda is China’s growing economic and military clout globally, which the Americans would like to counter,” Ahelbarra adds.

What’s Next?

With Trump pushing for immediate negotiations and the U.S. signaling a reduced commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Ukraine faces increased pressure to consider concessions in potential peace talks. Meanwhile, ongoing Russian attacks suggest that Moscow may be trying to strengthen its position before negotiations.

Rather than a cold-war struggle between East and West, there are signs that negotiations will further drive a wedge between the US and Europe. One thing is certain, with Trump’s promises to end the war 24 hours after his inauguration, he’ll be interested in a fast solution.

The post Europe Urges Collective Action as Trump and Putin Discuss Ukraine appeared first on The European Business Review.

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is facing repeated criticism for lack of transparency and potential overreach. Musk denies a hostile takeover.

In a dramatic White House appearance on Tuesday, Elon Musk energetically defended the controversial work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Sporting a “Make America Great Again” cap and shielded by his young son ‘X’, Musk discussed DOGE’s drastic federal cuts as “common sense” rather than radical, pushing back against mounting criticism over the department’s lack of transparency.

“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s exactly what they’re going to get. This is democracy in action,” Musk declared to reporters, portraying federal bureaucracy as an “unelected” branch wielding outsized power.

This defense comes amid growing concerns about Musk’s unusual consolidation of power within the government. President Trump has further expanded DOGE’s authority, requiring its approval for nearly all new federal hiring, while DOGE’s firings are likely to be counted in the thousands. Critics argue that this unprecedented level of control lacks proper oversight and accountability.

A Controversial Group of Young Engineers

WIRED reports that a group of young engineers aged 19 to 24 has been granted unprecedented authority at DOGE. Musk’s new aides, many of whom are former employees of Musk’s companies Tesla and SpaceX, are operating within federal agencies as Musk’s extended arm. Here, they have blocked employees from accessing their workplaces, while also demanding access to confidential material.

Critics argue that their lack of government experience poses risks to the stability and security of federal operations. For instance, their attempt to access sensitive Treasury Department data has already led to legal challenges, with a federal judge temporarily blocking DOGE from obtaining Social Security numbers and bank account information.

Musk sees it differently, however, defending his team as ‘innovative problem solvers’ who are working against what he sees – as the New York Times writes – as wasteful spending and left-wing ideology in the federal government. Musk has dismissed criticism of his aides’ lack of qualifications, stating that they are “some of the world’s best software engineers.”

The Blocking of USAID and Other Agencies

One of DOGE’s most controversial moves has been its effort to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has long been a cornerstone of American foreign aid and an institution for American soft power. Critics and USAID employees argue that in doing so, Musk and DOGE are halting crucial aid to Americans as well as developing countries around the world.

Under Musk’s direction, DOGE sought to furlough the large majority of USAID. This move was temporarily halted by a federal judge following lawsuits from unions representing USAID workers. Critics have labeled the effort as reckless, warning that it jeopardizes U.S. humanitarian efforts and national security interests. In addition to USAID, other agencies targeted by DOGE include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education. These actions have drawn sharp rebukes from Democrats and labor unions, who argue that such drastic changes require Congressional approval—a step that Musk and President Trump have largely bypassed.

On Tuesday, Musk on the other hand called the federal officials unelected “fraudsters” some of whom, Musk claims, have become millionaires through. As such, we can expect this to be just the beginning of a long power struggle between Trump, Musk and DOGE on the one hand, and federal bureaucrats on the other. About politics, working conditions as well as about truth and misinformation about federal officials.

Meanwhile, DOGE Goes to the Moon

Meanwhile, in another peculiar twist, Dogecoin, in which Musk has invested heavily, has seen a dramatic rise in recent months. When Musk spoke around the time of Trump’s inauguration, he ambiguously stated that the presidency would “take DOGE to mars.” After Trump’s election, the coin went on a bullish run before experiencing a slight decline. Following Musk’s appearance on Tuesday, DOGE seems to be on its way up again.

The intersection of Musk’s government role and his crypto advocacy is just one of many factors that have raised eyebrows among commentators, in what is perhaps the most unusual beginning to a presidency in recent times.

The post Hostile Takeover? Musk Defends DOGE in Dramatic White House Appearance appeared first on The European Business Review.

This week, a lot of companies have released their Q4 earnings, rattling the stock markets. Here, we cover who’s winning, who’s losing and why.

Alphabet, Apple: Big Tech Companies in Decline

American tech companies have recently been impacted by the release of Chinese DeepSeek, an LLM competing with or even outcompeting its American competitors. Nvidia saw a 17% plunge, losing nearly $600 billion, marking the biggest single-day drop in U.S. corporate history, according to CNBC. More than a week later, the Nvidia stock is still in its early recovery.

A week later, Big Tech continues to suffer. Google’s parent company, Alphabet is down by 9%, Google’s parent company, despite reporting nearly 12% year-over-year revenue growth. This happens as Alphabet’s bet on AI has led them to lose cloud revenue. Bank of America’s Savita Subramanian explains: “These companies, the hyper scalers, are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, because they have to spend a lot to remain competitive, but they are cutting into their cash flow”.

Apple shares Google’s current trajectory with a decline of over 2% following a Bloomberg News report suggesting that Chinese regulators are contemplating an antitrust investigation into the company’s App Store practices.

AMD: Decline for Chips Manufacturers 

Nvidia isn’t the only AI chip company facing heavy losses. AMD’s stock dropped 9.8% following its Q4 2024 earnings report, primarily due to its data center revenue falling short of expectations. AMD reported data center revenue of $3.9 billion, which was below the consensus expectation of $4.15 billion. The disappointing result suggests AMD may be facing increased competition, particularly from Nvidia, in the rapidly growing AI chip market. 

Palantir: AI Drives Explosive Growth

Palantir Technologies delivered one of the biggest surprises with their Q4 earnings. The company reported strong Q4 2024 results on February 5, 2025, causing its stock to surge past $100, marking an impressive 500% increase over the past year.

CEO Alex Karp attributes much of the company’s growth to its application of artificial intelligence, stating, “Our business results continue to astound, demonstrating our deepening position at the center of the AI revolution”

Uber: A Strong Dollar Weakens Rideshare Giant

Uber’s stock dropped 5.3% following its Q4 2024 earnings release which fell below expectations. With Uber operating  in over 70 countries, the company had warned that a strong dollar could negatively impact its performance. When converting foreign earnings back to USD, a strong dollar results in lower reported revenue from international markets.

In the coming months and throughout 2025, Uber’s experiments with autonomous vehicles (AVs) are likely to have a significant impact on the company’s performance as Uber expands its AV offerings through partnerships with companies like Waymo and May Mobility.

Novo Nordisk: Wegovy Demand Drives Growth

Novo Nordisk delivered a robust financial performance for Q4 2024, surpassing analyst expectations with a net profit of 28.23 billion Danish kroner, compared to the anticipated 26.09 billion Danish kroner. The company’s standout performer was Wegovy, its obesity treatment, which saw a remarkable 107% year-over-year sales surge. This saw the stock initially go up by 3.1%.

Novo Nordisk competitor Eli Lilly will report its Q4 2024 earnings on February 6th, but is up by 1.7 % on the day of Novo Nordisk Q4 report. As such, Eli Lilly is still ahead in the biotech race following the Novo Nordisk setback in late 2024.

Banco Santander: A European Banking Success

Another European success story is Banco Santander, which saw its shares go up 7% in early trading following the release of their Q4 earnings. The Spanish bank has seen its net profit rising 11% year-over-year to €3.265 billion.

Along with record profits, Santander announced a €10 billion share buyback program, promising significant capital returns to investors in 2025 and 2026. This program, along with the €1.6 billion buyback linked to 2024 profits, represents a substantial commitment to returning value to shareholders.

The post Q4 Earnings Disrupts Stock Markets: See the Winners and Losers appeared first on The European Business Review.

President Donald Trump continues to dramatically reshape the American and global political landscape. Saturday evening, the American president imposed tariffs on 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico, with a lower rate of 10% for Canadian oil, and an added 10% on imports from China. These are substantial tariffs on the US three biggest trade partners.

Monday, Trump and the Mexican President, Claudia Sheimbaum, announced a one-month break on the US tariffs toward Mexico. The truce happened after Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 national guards to help prevent drug smuggling from Mexico to the US.

As of this writing, the tariffs are still in place for Canada and China. The new import taxes have sparked concerns over inflation and falling stock prices. We’ll return to the economic implications after a global overview of the situation.

Countermeasures

This could mark the beginning of a new era of protectionism and trade wars, as both Canada, Mexico, and China have announced countermeasures.

Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced and partially implemented retaliatory measures of 25% tariffs. The tariffs will be rolled out in two stages with immediate tariffs targeted at consumer products like orange juice, peanut butter, wine, spirits, beer, coffee, apparel, and cosmetics. China has pledged to lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization and also announced it will implement “corresponding countermeasures“.

These countermeasures come despite Trump’s warning that he could expand the scope of tariffs imposed on the three countries if they retaliate.

Tariffs against the EU?

President Donald Trump also escalated his rhetoric regarding potential tariffs on the European Union. Trump stated that new tariffs against the EU will “definitely happen”, adding that “the European Union has treated us terribly”. Trumps cites concerns over the trade deficit and what he perceives as insufficient EU imports of American cars and agricultural products as his reason to impose tariffs.

The UK, on the other hand, appears to be weathering the tariff storm, with Trump speaking positively of his British colleague, Keir Starmer.

The European Commission has expressed regret over Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China and warned of retaliation if the EU is targeted. A spokesperson from the European Commission said that “the EU would respond firmly to any trading partner that unfairly or arbitrarily imposes tariffs on EU goods.” In a similar tone, French President Macron said “If we are attacked in terms of trade, Europe – as a true power – will have to stand up for itself and therefore react”. Macron also noted that the new Trump administration will “push Europeans to be more united.”

As of this writing, Trump has not yet imposed tariffs on EU countries, though he has said that they will be implemented “pretty soon”.

Concerns Over Trade War Drives Declining Stocks

Monday morning, the global stock markets opened with considerable losses following the weekend’s announcements. Asian and European markets opened to declines between 1 and 2.7 percent while the American S&P 500 futures had declined by 1.5% by the time of writing. Car companies from Asia, Europe, and the US saw their stocks particularly affected, with declines of 5 to 7.5 percent across the three continents. This could be just the beginning.

Market analysts attribute this widespread decline to concerns over the potential escalation of a trade war. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, told the BBC that there is a “sea of red flashing on the markets”. The import taxes could result in “higher inflation and put a stop to further interest rate cuts for the time being – exactly the opposite of what equity investors want to happen”, he added. 

Trump’s Economic Gambit

With the tariffs, Trump has thrown himself into one of the biggest gambits of his political career.

As CNN writes, “The looming import taxes on Mexico, Canada and China will be a major test of Trump’s unorthodox use of tariffs, which he’s described as “the greatest thing ever invented.”

The Wall Street Journal has another view in a stark criticism of the import taxes calling it “The Dumbest Trade War in History”.

The tariffs are a gamble that could define Trump’s presidency and see substantial parts of his political support falter: they will likely drive American inflation and could result in a loss of jobs, in the US as well as in the global economy. Mary Lovely, a fellow at Peterson Institute International Economics, calls the move “a huge gamble. It’s a recipe for slowing down the economy and increasing inflation.”

Aforementioned Russ Mould from AJ Bell affirms: “”Higher prices could hurt demand, and there might be a trickle-down effect that knocks business and consumer confidence and feeds into weaker economic activity.”

As the global economy grapples with the implications of Trump’s new tariffs, the coming weeks and months will reveal the long-term effects of Trump’s economic gambit.

The post After Tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, Trump Looks Toward the EU appeared first on The European Business Review.

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed more than 200 of executive actions, of which, one was an executive order proclaiming that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, for ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside federal agencies.

In 2020, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County affirming that discrimination against someone because they are LGBTQ is sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Justice Neil Gorsuch. With the “two sexes” new order, Trump’s moves to scrap many diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies inside the federal government”, cutting funding to DEI programmes across all agencies and including a review of offices renamed because of DEI initiatives.

Several large US companies have ended or scaled back their DEI programmes since Trump was elected, including McDonald’s, Walmart and Facebook parent company Meta. Others, like Apple and retailers Target and Costco, publicly defended their existing programmes.

The controversial order asserts a new legal definition of sex that strips federal recognition of the gender identity of some 1.6 million trans and nonbinary Americans, and directly contradicts a number of existing laws and recent court rulings.

The “two sexes” order impact

Sex and gender are not always the same thing. Sex generally refers to a person’s anatomy, whereas gender has to do with a person’s social and personal identity and may differ from their assigned sex at birth.

Trump’s ‘two sexes’ executive order requires that the federal government use the term “sex” instead of “gender,” and directs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to “require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex. “Americans have been able to select “X” on their passports since April 2022 under former President Joe Biden. The new gender order states that it will “defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”

For decades, feminist legal scholars and women’s rights advocates have opposed efforts to define gender based strictly on biology. Recent state laws that use these definitions to discriminate against transgender people have resulted in invasive and traumatizing efforts to determine who “counts” as a man or as a woman, targeting youth who are even suspected of being transgender because they do not conform to sex stereotypes. The ‘two sexes’ order likewise ignores the existence of intersex people and others with variations in sex characteristics beyond the overly-simplistic definitions endorsed.

Under the Biden Administration, citizens could update their gender markers to reflect their gender identity in a process. In 2022, the Biden Administration rolled out an “X” gender marker for nonbinary, intersex, or gender nonconforming people. Trump’s executive order denies the legal recognition of transgender and nonbinary people, barring them from updating their gender on federal documents, such as passports, visas, and Global Entry cards. The executive order does not impact state policies or most state identification documents, but it could generate issues when it comes to applications where two forms of IDs are necessary, such as applying to loans, employment, or housing.

A peer-reviewed study found that when states pass anti-transgender laws—with policies like bathroom bans, which bar trans students from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity, or challenges to gender marker updates, which make it more difficult for trans people to have their accurate gender on state IDs—suicide attempts among trans and nonbinary youth ages 13 to 17 increased from 7% to 72%.

Some immediate impacts of the gender order will likely be felt by the more than 2,000 transgender people currently held in federal custody. The order specifically calls on the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ignore the guidelines of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and enforce a blanket policy forcing transgender women into men’s prisons and detention centers against their will. This puts them at a severely heightened risk of sexual assault and abuse by other incarcerated persons and prison staff. The order also mandates that BOP withdraw critical health care from trans people in federal prison.

The Transgender Scapegoat

Although transgender people make up less than 1% of the adult U.S. population, anti-transgender politicians spent more than $215 million on ads scapegoating trans people and promoting a Project 2025 agenda that threatens to rollback reproductive freedom and punish people for departing from traditional gender roles.

A recent ABC News report found that nearly a third of recent campaign funds — or $21 million, according to the report — for television advertising has been spent on anti-trans messaging from the Trump campaign and various conservative political groups. The independent journalist collective the Bulwark pushed the total even higher — to $40 million poured into anti-trans advertising within the last five weeks. The ads, paid for by the Trump campaign, use a litany of anti-trans coding. Ground Media found that while the negative messaging didn’t change viewers’ minds, it did significantly increase viewers’ negativity about trans and nonbinary people across all demographics. In other words, these ads help to reinforce the idea of maintaining the stigma which reinforces the ongoing culture war against queer and trans people. In this case, even if Harris had won the election, marginalized communities in red states will still be under threat from Trump supporters and from growing legal restrictions on those regions.

Transphobia promotes the idea that trans is a thread to the nuclear family and traditional values, while often hides a broader ideology of exclusion, scarcity and deprivation. Trans people are by far more victims of violence and hate crime than no trans (cisgender) people, yet half of these aggressions are not reported to police.

Gender’s dysphoria controversy

A recent analysis of GP records in the UK has found that the number of children presenting with gender dysphoria in the country has risen 50-fold in a decade. This analysis found that more than 10,000 people under the age of 18 identified as transgender or struggling with their gender identity in the UK. Also, a survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 3.3% of U.S. high school students identified as transgender in 2023, with another 2.2% identified as questioning.

Gender-affirming care (GAC) is a model of care which includes a spectrum of “medical, surgical, mental health, and non-medical services for transgender and nonbinary people” aimed at affirming and supporting an individual’s gender identity. Gender affirmation is highly individualized, not all trans people seek the same types of gender affirming care or services and some people choose not to use medical services as a part of their transition. An analysis by the Reuters news agency and health technology company Komodo Health found that 282 minors with a prior diagnosis of gender dysphoria underwent mastectomies in 2021. About 4,230 minors received cross-sex hormones and fewer than 1,400 received puberty blockers that year.

In a Gallup poll last year, 61 percent of Americans said they opposed laws banning psychological support, hormonal treatments, and medical surgeries for minors, compared with 36 percent in favour. The Trump administration’s executive order directs agencies to end their reliance on guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), announcing that the US, as a matter of federal policy, will not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” what are commonly known as gender-affirming care procedures (Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation). Under the President’s order, the Department of Health and Human Services must take “all appropriate actions” to halt gender-affirming care under Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, and publish a review of best practices for promoting the health of youth with gender dysphoria and “other identity-based confusion” within 90 days.

At least 26 US states have passed laws or policies limiting minors’ access to gender-affirming care; 17 states are facing lawsuits challenging their laws/policies limiting youth access to GAC, and 24 states impose professional or legal penalties on health care practitioners providing minors with GAC.

A study published in psychiatrist.com has shown that a significantly higher proportion of patients with gender dysphoria had a primary diagnosis of depressive disorders (82% vs 75.2% in those without gender dysphoria), included anxiety disorders (63.6%), PTSD (28.2%), and neurodevelopmental disorders (27.4%), and there existed a statistically significant difference when compared with non–gender dysphoria patients.

Among hospitalized young people in the United States, 66% of those with a gender dysphoria diagnosis were admitted for suicide attempts or self-harm in 2019, compared to 5% without gender dysphoria, according to a study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. The study looked at over 2 million instances of young people (6 to 20 years old) hospitalized for any reason and determined how many of those hospitalizations were related to suicide or self-harm attempts, for those with and those without a gender dysphoria diagnosis. Hospitalized young people with gender dysphoria had a higher prevalence of suicide attempts compared to those without gender dysphoria in both 2016 (36% versus 5%) and 2019 (55% versus 4%). Similarly, prevalence of self-harm was higher in hospitalized young people with gender dysphoria in both years (13% versus 1% in 2016 and 15% versus 1% in 2019). This study is the first to use a large nationally representative inpatient database to understand the relationship between gender dysphoria and attempted suicide and self-harm, but talks about the connection between suicide and gender dysphoria are being strongly intensely argued.

Conclusion

Scapegoating LGBTI minorities and Gender roles has become a tactic applied by politicians posing as defenders of so-called “traditional values” to strengthen their base and gain or stay in power. In addition to mobilising certain categories of voters, the exploitation of societal homo/transphobia has proven a convenient way to divert public attention away from government failure to address pressing social issues and rising inequalities and broader attacks under way on human rights and democracy.

Moralist public debate promoted by politicians and opinion-makers is assured to take a prominent role within the public opinion landscape, as it ensures controversy and drags artificially inflicted pressure on people, who feel as if they have to take strong views in a side or in another. Its aim is to create controversy that leads to polarization, to confronted views, and to living under ongoing fear. The influence of the anti-gender movements in politics is increasing. Some politicians are not hiding their affiliation and others may seek convenient alliances because the issues raised are known to attract votes and distract attention from real problems.

For some years now, there have been reports about the expansion of these increasingly organised, transnational and well-funded movements, made-up of religious extremists and ultra-conservative organisations. The anti-gender movements call into question the concept of gender, and whether it is a protected category in the human rights framework, promoting an ultra-conservative – no longer realistic at present – view of the family, sexuality and women’s role in society.

Toxic anti-gender rhetoric is a costly strategy which seeks to maintain stigmatisation and undermines inclusion and social cohesion in general.

The President of the European Commission, when announcing the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025, sent a powerful message in favour of inclusion and diversity by stating that “being yourself is not your ideology. It’s your identity”.

The post “two sexes” – Trump Executive Order: From Gender Dysphoria Controversy to Gender Stigma appeared first on The European Business Review.

As Europe enters the second Trump era, its economies face a delicate balance between modest recovery and mounting risks. Recent forecasts paint a picture of sluggish growth amid persistent economic and political challenges.

The EU economy experienced modest growth at around 0.9 percent in 2024 after a year of stagnation in 2023. For 2025, the European Commission forecasts EU GDP growth to reach 1.5%, while the euro area is expected to grow by 1.3%. While that is progress compared to the years prior, the progress is moderate: UN predicts the global growth to be 2.8 percent in 2025.

From Wirtschaftswunder to Stagnation

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, remains a significant concern. That happens as German companies, particularly in the automotive sector, are losing market share to US and Chinese manufacturers. In the automotive sector, China has evolved from a key export market to a main competitor for Germany. At the same time, geoeconomic fragmentation is impacting Germany, as the country is no longer receiving cheap energy from Russia and could soon face tariffs from the US. After potentially experiencing its first consecutive annual recessions in over two decades, Germany’s recovery in 2025 is expected to be weak with OECD projecting a growth of 0.7%, while the Bundesbank forecasts only 0.2 growth for the world’s third biggest economy.

Trump’s Tariffs

After Trump’s inauguration, one question trumps them all for the European economies: will Trump go forward with his announced tariffs?

While this could once again be a negotiation position, it could indicate that Trump may have his initial focus on tariffs directed towards US neighbors.

Trump’s proposed tariffs include a 10% universal tariff on all US imports and a 100% tariff on vehicles imported into the US. Both could significantly impact European economies and in particular, the big export economies. Should the proposed tariffs, experts have warned of a general recession in the EU.

Goldman Sachs estimates a 30% risk of European recession in 2025: “We expect 2025 to be another challenging year for the Euro area economy. First, US President-elect Trump’s plan to impose tariffs is likely to weigh significantly on growth”, the investment bank writes.

By the end of 2024, well after his election victory, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had “told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!”

One could view that statement as an indicator that the proposed tariffs are a negotiation position. In his inauguration speech, Trump declared that “We are establishing the External revenue service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury, coming from foreign source.”

At an Oval Office signing ceremony following Trump’s inauguration on Monday, Trump promised to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada beginning already on February 1st, while not mentioning tariffs on the EU. While this could once again be a negotiation position, it could indicate that Trump may have his initial focus on tariffs directed towards US neighbors.

EU’s gameplan 

While some economic experts observe that Trump could have a hard time imposing tariffs, the EU has prepared a plan a and a plan b, if Trump goes forward with his tariff plans.

As the early measure, the EU plans to negotiate with the US to avoid tariff imposition, potentially offering increased imports of US goods, particularly in energy and defense sectors. Here, the EU has already increased imports since Russia’s invasion of Europe.

If negotiations fail, the EU is likely prepared to implement retaliatory tariffs. As Garcia Bercero, a fellow at policy research firm Bruegel says “Any strategy needs to include both elements [negotiation and retaliation]. Otherwise we would not be credible in a negotiation.”

These options could include targeting products from US swing states to apply maximum political pressure. It could also impose taxes on digital services provided by American tech companies. The EU could also increase tariffs on specialized US imports that rely on European expertise.

Political Turmoil in the Main European Economies

Today, political instability in both Germany and France adds another layer of uncertainty to the eurozone’s economic prospects and political resilience.

A potential drama over tariffs will take place in a politically weakened EU. For many years, France and Germany constituted an economic and political powerhouse, driving the EU forward. Today, political instability in both Germany and France adds another layer of uncertainty to the eurozone’s economic prospects and political resilience.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “traffic light” coalition collapsed in late 2024 due to irreconcilable fiscal disagreements. A snap federal election will be held on Sunday, February 23, 2025. Polls suggest the center-right CDU/CSU is poised to lead the next government. Meanwhile, the far-right AfD continues to make significant gains, creating significant division in Germany.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s political influence has diminished significantly since several poor elections in 2024. Macron’s previous government under Michel Barnier collapsed due to a no-confidence vote over budget disputes. The 2025 budget remains a major point of contention, with previous attempts to pass it leading to government collapse.

In other words, it’s a weakened EU that meets an experienced American President, who has been elected with a strong mandate.

A Path Forward for Europe

The EU’s significantly lower growth rates, compared to China and the US, have sparked ongoing conversation around strengthening European competitiveness. Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank, has been a leader of this conversation with his report on European competitiveness.

The Draghi report explicitly supports joint borrowing as a means to finance large-scale investments in innovation and decarbonization. While progress has been made in integrating some of Draghi’s recommendations into EU policy discussions, achieving consensus on common investments remains challenging. The EU’s historical reliance on unanimity voting for fiscal matters often slows down decision-making. However, Draghi’s call for extending qualified majority voting could pave the way for more efficient implementation of shared financial mechanisms.

While progress has been made in integrating some of Draghi’s recommendations into EU policy discussions, achieving consensus on common investments remains challenging.

Draghi highlights Europe’s innovation gap, with many corporate “unicorns” relocating abroad due to regulatory and financial barriers. To counter this, the report proposes creating a European Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), incentivizing venture capital, and reforming pension regulations to channel savings into investments.

The European Green Deal has set a target for Europe to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. At the same time, the European Green Deal holds potential to drive new growth with investments in sustainable innovations. it is well-positioned to leverage this transition to enhance its global competitiveness and economic growth.

As the American focus under President Trump shifts towards fossil fuels, the EU could eye a chance to position itself as a world leader in sustainable technologies, at once tackling climate change while also reinvigorating its economy and innovation landscape.

The post A Politically and Economically Weakened Europe Enters the Second Trump Era appeared first on The European Business Review.

In the spring of 2013, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) launched new standards for accreditation of its member business schools. The revision of the AACSB accreditation standards was a response to the new challenges of creating value in an increasingly global, interactive and fast-changing business world and society. Economic pressures on business schools have forced a paradigm shift in the teaching and learning models required to prepare business school graduates for successful careers and meaningful social and personal lives. Under the newly revised standards, (re)accreditation by AACSB will require that schools provide evidence of ongoing improvement in three areas: innovation, impact, and engagement.

The tech sector unstoppable evolution demands constant adaptability and proficiency of workforce skills. The continuous tech demands require constant vigilance from leaders to assess and address skills gaps within their teams effectively. As business leaders navigate this challenge, they must ensure their teams not only stay competitive but also remain at the forefront of innovation. To that end, 19 Forbes Business Council members share strategies that can empower leaders to evaluate the skill sets of their teams and ensure their organizations remain agile, competitive and primed for success.

Competency-Based Assessments

The integration of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics into assessment platforms has enhanced their efficiency, making them increasingly popular among organizations aiming to streamline their evaluation processes.

The Assessment Services Market is growing remarkably, with its value projected to increase from USD 9,505 million in 2024 to USD 24,560.45 million by 2032, reflecting a robust compound annual growth rate of 12.60% during the forecast period. This growth is driven by the escalating demand for assessment tools across industries such as education, corporate, and government sectors. The rising emphasis on skill development, employee performance evaluations, and standardized testing in academic institutions has significantly contributed to the market’s expansion. Additionally, the integration of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics into assessment platforms has enhanced their efficiency, making them increasingly popular among organizations aiming to streamline their evaluation processes.

As companies are moving beyond traditional credentials, focusing instead on the tangible abilities’ individuals bring to the table, the competency-based becomes a strategic imperative. Tech giants like Google and Amazon have adopted rigorous skill assessments in their hiring practices, ensuring candidates can meet the dynamic demands of their roles from day one.

The digital revolution is accelerating this effect, especially in work and education. The global shift toward remote operations has catapulted the demand for virtual assessment services to new heights. According to a report by Global Market Insights, the e-learning market is projected to surpass $375 billion USD by 2026, a testament to the booming online education sector.

Organizations worldwide are harnessing these tools to break down geographical barriers, making evaluations more seamless and efficient. During the COVID-19 pandemic, over 90% of educational institutions in developed countries transitioned to online assessments, as reported by the OECD. In the United States alone, the use of online proctoring services surged by 500% between 2020 and 2021.

The Assessment Services Market is segmented into Aptitude Tests, Personality Tests, Skill Tests, Behavioural Assessments, Psychometric Assessments, Career Assessments, Leadership Assessments, and Others. Among these, aptitude and skill tests dominate due to their widespread use in recruitment and training programs.

AI – Education 4.0 Framework

In an age where technology perpetually reshapes the boundaries of learning and leadership, the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and business education leads a new era of innovation. The rapid advancement of generative AI technologies presents an unprecedented opportunity to revolutionize how future business leaders are trained, think, and make decisions.

In 2020, the World Economic Forum identified eight pivotal transformations needed to enhance education quality in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – Education 4.0 Framework. As AI emerges as the defining technology of this era, we can accelerate the adoption of Education 4.0 by using this technology and ensuring learners are equipped to thrive with it.

AI tools, such as those that provide data analytics and gamified learning – have long been part of the educational landscape. While developments in generative AI offer new opportunities to leverage AI tools, it becomes increasingly evident that teaching about AI in schools is vital.

This education should prioritize imparting skills related to AI development and understanding its potential risks. These skills are critical for shaping future talent capable of ethically designing and developing AI tools that benefit economies and societies.

Entrepreneurship in Education

The idea of including entrepreneurship into education has been going on for a few decades. Its positive effects such as economic growth, job creation and increased societal resilience, but also individual growth, increased school engagement and improved equality have been acclaimed. Putting this idea into practice has however posed significant challenges such as lack of time and resources, teachers’ fear of commercialism, impeding educational structures, assessment difficulties and lack of definitional clarity.

Entrepreneurship Education comprises those educational interventions that prepare students for a career in entrepreneurship, oriented towards two mainly fostering a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship which stimulates the intention of students to become an entrepreneur, and secondly, endowing students with knowledge and skills that are relevant to successfully launch and manage a business.

Entrepreneurship Education comprises those educational interventions that prepare students for a career in entrepreneurship, oriented towards two mainly fostering a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship which stimulates the intention of students to become an entrepreneur.

Universities have acquired protagonism not only as educators in entrepreneurship, but also as agents promoting entrepreneurship. In the last decades, many universities have gone one step further in the consolidation of a more practical approach to entrepreneurship. Institutions in different countries have promoted business incubators, spin offs and alliances with companies. Others have evolved to become entrepreneurial universities, understood as entities actively engaged with innovation and diffusion of knowledge spill overs that contribute to regional development. In this context, universities promote synergies between managers, academics, and students, seeking opportunities with common strategic objectives, and favoring the accumulation of human capital.

On the other hand, entrepreneurship education should be accessible to all, yet it often highlights male role models like Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Jack Ma, which can alienate key groups such as women, people with disabilities and those in rural areas with limited educational access.

Conclusion

Today’s rapid swift in the business sector, as the result of the continuous challenges generated by the ultrarapid transformation in technology, creates an opportunity for business education to lead the path for students and professionals.

Integrating AI, Entrepreneurship and Skills Based Assessment approaches in today’s business studies lifts business education to a pivotal role, as it leads the way among future professionals, while it is being closely connected with today’s reality, and with real business in the ground.

It is important to highlight that teaching about AI is equally crucial to teaching with AI. And that Skills Based Assessments are directly linked to student’s motivation, as it establishes first to Academic Goals vs Career Goals path.

Business education’s pivotal role should be to equip everyone, not just elite leaders, with the skills needed to adapt to a changing society. An inclusive approach allows all young people to develop essential skills for their futures, regardless of gender, background, beliefs or education.

Echoing John F Kennedy’s sentiment that “a rising tide lifts all boats”, we must expand access to entrepreneurship education for marginalised groups. This commitment encourages diverse voices and talents, enriching the business landscape.

Related Readings:

• How LSE is Equipping the Executives of Today to Lead the Businesses of Tomorrow
• Leadership and AI: Leading AI’s Impact from the Classroom to the Boardroom
• AI in Business Education 2024: How Top MBA Programs Integrate Artificial Intelligence into Curricula

The post Traditional Business is DEAD – Entrepreneurship, Skills Based Assessments and AI are Transforming Business and Academia appeared first on The European Business Review.

The World Economic Forum’s recent Future of Jobs Report 2025 offers a comprehensive look at the rapidly evolving global labor market, forecasting significant shifts in employment trends over the next five years. Here, we cover the shifts, opportunities and in demand skills in the years ahead. 

The Future of Work is a bi-annual report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).  Their latest report covers changes in the job market from 2025 to 2030, based on surveys of over 1,000 employers representing more than 14 million workers across 22 industry clusters.

The report projects a net increase of 78 million jobs globally by 2030, resulting from the creation of 170 million new jobs and the displacement of 92 million existing roles.

Five Macrotrends Drive Changes on the Job Market

This transformation is driven by five major macro trends, ranked by significance in the below order:

1. Technological change

Employers expect technological change to be the most significant trend. According to WEF’s survey “More employers – 60% – expect broadening digital access to transform their business than any other trend”. Especially AI and automation drive this macrotrend: 86% of respondents expect AI and information processing technologies to have the biggest impact on the future of jobs, while the number is 58% for robots and autonomous systems.

2. Economic uncertainty

WEF writes that “As of early 2025, the global economic outlook appears to be shaped by a combination of cautious optimism and persistent uncertainties”. For that reason, economic uncertainty is a decisive macro trend. While inflation has gone down and the economy has proven resilient in 2024, half of employers expect the rising cost of living to drive organizational changes and 42% anticipate slower economic growth to impact their operations. These economic dynamics are creating a cautious employment landscape.

3. Geoeconomic fragmentation

Global tensions intensifies global trade fragmentation, with governments imposing trade restrictions and increasing subsidies. The WTO reports that trade restrictions doubled between 2020 and 2024, potentially risking global economic growth. Industries highly dependent on global supply chains, such as the car- and mining sectors, expect significant transformation due to these trends, while more domestic-focused sectors anticipate less impact.

4. Green transition

The green transition continues to be a priority for many organizations globally, with nearly half of the surveyed employers anticipating that efforts to reduce carbon emissions will drive significant organizational transformation. This trend is particularly pronounced in carbon-intensive industries such as automotive, aerospace, and mining, where decarbonization efforts will require substantial workforce upskilling and reskilling. Despite a 12% increase in workers acquiring green skills between 2022 and 2023, demand continues to outpace supply, WEF finds. 

5. Demographic shifts

WEF reports that the world is experiencing two major demographic shifts at once: an aging population in higher-income economies and growing working-age populations in lower-income economies. These shifts are significantly impacting global labor supply, with 40% of employers worldwide being transformed by aging populations and 25% by growing working-age populations.

With these macrotrends defined, let’s have a look at the WEF’s projection for job growth and decline.

Growth and Decline in Jobs by 2030

Based on insights from employers on which job roles are expected to grow, decline or remain stable, the report estimates that by 2030, there will be 7% more formal jobs globally.  While 92 million jobs are projected to be displaced, 170 million jobs are projected to be created. In other words, the thousand employers surveyed generally do not share recent concerns about automation and AI resulting in mass job losses.

So which sectors will drive the most job growth?

Growing and Declining Roles

Perhaps unsurprisingly, in the coming five years, we can expect a substantial growth in a variety of technical roles. With a projected growth of more than 110%, the role with the highest projected growth is big data specialist. Following that are fintech engineers and AI and machine learning specialists. See the full list below.

The report also highlights significant job growth in frontline roles such as farmworkers, delivery drivers, and construction workers, while also mentioning growth in care jobs like nursing professionals and education roles like secondary school teachers.  

While technical roles are in demand, more manual jobs are seeing decline. Postal service clerks, bank tellers and data entry clerks are all at a projected decline of more than 20%.

Skills Disruption and Future In Demand Skills

The beginning of the 2020’s has been uncertain times. The decade kicked off with COVID-19, followed by inflation, the war in Ukraine and a steep increase in the use of AI. All affecting the perception of which skills are going to be in demand in the future. After some uncertain years, the WEF reports that the skills disruption is coming back to a more stable level at 39%.

The number refers to that among the surveyed employers expect 39% of workers’ core skills to change by 2030.

The WEF reports that skill gaps are considered the biggest barrier to business transformation, with 63% of employers identifying them as a major barrier over the 2025- 2030 period.

So what skills are in demand? Unsurprisingly, tech- and AI-related skills are projected to be in demand, taking the top three of the list. More creative and abstract are also projected to increase in demand with creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility and finally curiosity and lifelong learning taking the fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively.

For more employer insights and regional perspectives, WEF’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 is freely accessible here.

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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 recently took place in Las Vegas, showcasing advancements in technology: from personal AI computers to commercial rollouts of autonomous vehicles to home robotics.

1. Self-driving Cars Gain Momentum

After years of research and testing – and some delays – self-driving cars have momentum. In 2024, Waymo alone completed more than four million commercial rides in the cities Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin. This year’s CES highlighted the competition in the self-driving space as companies like Waymo, Zoox, May Mobility, and Tier IV all showcased their autonomous taxis. Zoox, Amazon’s autonomous vehicle, demonstrated its fully electric robotaxi that is set to be operational in Las Vegas and San Francisco by the end of 2025.

At CES 2025, Waymo showcased its new autonomous vehicle, transitioning from prototypes to widely available commercial solutions, which could lead to a massive shift in the sector for autonomous vehicles and potentially in the car industry in general. It may not be long until robot taxis become a standard, also outside tech cities. Speaking at CES, Waymo’s co- CEO, Tekedra Mawakana, said: “One of the things you’ll see from us this year is testing across a host of cities, so that we can launch over the next couple of years, throughout the U.S. and internationally.”

In 2025, Waymo plans to expand to more American cities and start operations in Japan.

2. NVIDIA’s New Personal AI Computer

NVIDIA stole the spotlight at CES 2025 with the unveiling of Project DIGITS, a compact AI supercomputer that could revolutionize personal computing for AI developers, researchers, and AI enthusiasts. DIGITS comes with NVIDIa’s new GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip. With 1 petaFLOPS of AI computational power, it opens up possibilities for AI research, scientific simulations, and advanced data analysis without the need for cloud services. Project DIGITS essentially democratizes access to high-performance AI computing, which could accelerate innovation across industries and make cutting-edge AI technology accessible to a broader range of users.

Priced at $3,000, Project DIGITS could see AI development democratized – from professionals to dedicated hobbyists being able to afford the device.

Speaking at CES, NVIDIA CEO, Jensen Huang, said: “AI will be mainstream in every application for every industry. With Project DIGITS, the Grace Blackwell Superchip comes to millions of developers. Placing an AI supercomputer on the desks of every data scientist, AI researcher and student empowers them to engage and shape the age of AI.”

Project DIGITS is set to hit the market as soon as May 2025.

3. Robots at Home

Another area that blurs the line between science fiction and reality is in home robotics and smart home technologies. Early adapters may soon have their own AI-driven robots at home for cleaning and even for companionship.

TCL has unveiled the world’s first modular AI companion robot by the name of AI Me. The robot is designed for multiple purposes like monitoring younger family members, capturing memories, and serving as a home surveillance device. The robot’s owl-like features with expressive digital eyes and a childlike voice gives it a “personality” while also having a number of features for home security.

And then there’s innovation almost people would likely enjoy getting assistance: cleaning at home. One of the most jaw dropping innovations presented at CES is the SwitchBot K20+ Pro, a multitasking household robot that can vacuum, purify air, monitor pets, and x other in-house errands. Unlike traditional single-function robots, it features new technology that allows users to customize its capabilities, making it able to take care of a variety of tasks.

4. Cross-company Collaborations Everywhere

Cross-company collaborations were a prominent theme at CES 2025, reecting the tech industry’s growing trend towards partnerships to drive innovation. This is especially the case in areas like autonomous vehicles and AI integration.

Also here, NVIDIA takes centerstage, presenting a number of collaborative innovations. In the automotive sector, NVIDIA announced a partnership with Toyota to incorporate NVIDIA’s Drive AGX Orin technology into its upcoming vehicles to enhance their driving assistance features. The collaboration focuses on developing smart systems that help drivers with tasks like automatic braking and staying in their lanes, making driving experiences safer and more convenient. In the same sector, NVIDIA revealed collaborations with Aurora Innovation and Continental for autonomous technology, aiming to deploy driverless trucks.

NVIDIA also introduced the Mega Omniverse Blueprint, designed for developing and testing robotic eets in digital twin environments before real-world deployment, further solidifying the company’s work on advancing physical AI applications.

From AI to self driving cars and home robotics, 2025 promises rapid technological innovation, where the boundaries between the digital and the physical, science ction and reality will continue to blur.

The post NVIDIA Unveils Personal AI Computer: Four insights from CES 2025 appeared first on The European Business Review.

From the smartphone in your pocket to the Wi-Fi router in your living room, electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have become an integral part of our daily lives. In our hyper-connected world, we’re constantly surrounded by an invisible force that powers our modern lifestyle. But what if this convenience comes at a cost we’re only beginning to understand!

As our reliance and dependency on technology grows, so does our exposure to Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) radiation. It’s not just our phones and Wi-Fi networks; it’s our smart homes, 5G networks, and even the power lines that run through our neighbourhoods. This omnipresent exposure has led to a surge in concern among scientists, health professionals, and the general public about the potential long-term effects on our health.

Imagine for a moment that you could see the electromagnetic waves pulsing through your home, office, and favourite coffee shop. The air would be thick with a web of intersecting fields, each one carrying data, powering devices, and potentially interacting with our bodies in ways we’re just starting to comprehend.

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are physical fields produced by electrically charged objects, and consist of electric and magnetic components. The most common objects allegedly causing sensitivity are power lines, fluorescent lights, antennas, electrical wiring, satellite systems, cell towers, radio stations, mobile phones, microwave ovens, radar systems, medical devices (MRI and X-ray machines), Wi-Fi, cordless phones, etc. Increasing research reveals how EMF radiations have a connection with various health problems.

The Cancer Connection

Recent studies have suggested a possible link between long-term exposure to EMF radiation and certain types of cancer, particularly brain tumours and leukaemia. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)Trusted Source classified EMF in the radiofrequency range as Group 2B, a human carcinogen, which is produced by electronic products like cell phones, smart devices, and tablets.

5G cellular technology and the upcoming 6G cellular technologies implement millimetre waves. As we all know that microwave ovens operate at a frequency of 2450 MHz, and it makes us wonder if we are all being microwaved by these technologies.

Dr. Sarah Thompson, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, notes, “While we can’t definitively say EMF radiation causes cancer, the data we’re seeing is concerning enough to warrant further investigation and precautionary measures.”

A landmark study published in the International Journal of Oncology found that individuals who used cell phones for more than 10 years had a 2.4 times higher risk of developing brain tumours on the side of the head where they typically held their phone. There are indirect links between cancer and EMF exposure where such exposure disrupts the delicate symphony between our cells leading to diseases, leading to manmade EMF / RF exposure being termed as ‘A Slow Invisible Poison’.

Neurological Nightmares

Perhaps most concerning are the potential effects of EMF radiation on our brains and nervous systems. A published study has reported that the exposure to electromagnetic waves have an adverse impact on human brain health. New epigenetic studies are profiled in this review to account for some neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral changes due to exposure to wireless technologies. From headaches and sleep disturbances to more serious conditions like cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases, the neurological impacts of EMF exposure are wide-ranging and deeply troubling.

Symptoms characterized as Electro-hyper-sensitivity (EHS) are frequently reported by people living surrounded by electronic devices. Other symptoms frequently experienced are memory problems, difficulty concentrating, eye problems, sleep disorder, feeling unwell, headache, dizziness, tinnitus, chronic fatigue, and heart palpitations.

Dr. Martin Pall, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at Washington State University, has been a vocal advocate for more research into this area. He explains, “EMFs can activate voltage-gated calcium channels in our cells, leading to increased oxidative stress and potential damage to our neurons. This mechanism could explain many of the neurological symptoms reported by individuals who are sensitive to EMF radiation.”

Fertility on the Line

In an age where many couples are struggling with infertility, the potential impact of EMF radiation on reproductive health is particularly alarming. Studies have shown that EMF exposure may affect sperm quality and egg viability.

A study published in the Central European Journal of Urology found that men who carried their cell phones in their front pockets had significantly lower sperm counts compared to those who didn’t. The researchers hypothesized that the EMF radiation emitted by the phones could be damaging the delicate DNA in sperm cells. Scientists exposed semen to Wi-Fi, which is surrounded by low-frequency EMFs, and found the Wi-Fi both damaged the DNA of the sperm contained in the semen and made it less mobile. For sperm to be able to fertilize an egg, it must be able to move quickly and easily. This has caused concern about other potential effects of EMFs, including how they may affect the quality of sperm. Institutions like the Danish Sperm Bank are particularly attentive to these findings, as sperm quality is critical for successful fertility treatments and donor selection. 

Also, a study from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook found the heat given off by a laptop could raise the temperature of the scrotum, the sac of skin that protects the testicles. As a key role of the scrotum is to keep the temperature of the testicles lower than the temperature of the body, when the testicles are too warm, they can’t produce as much sperm, and quality of that sperm is lower.

For women, research has suggested that EMF exposure might affect the development and implantation of embryos. EMF radiation emitted from mobile phones can penetrate fetal tissues and cause hormonal imbalances in the mother and thermal, anthropometric, and cardiovascular changes in the fetus. Hence, analyzing these radiation-induced damaging effects in terms of physiological and pregnancy outcomes on the mother and the baby is important.

A call for further research

As we continue to push the boundaries of technology, it’s crucial that we also invest in understanding its potential impacts on our health. The concerns surrounding EMF radiation are not just a matter for scientists and policymakers; they affect each of us in our daily lives. While more studies are needed, these findings raise important questions about the impact of our tech-heavy lifestyles on future generations.

Dr. David Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, argues, “We have enough evidence to justify taking steps to reduce our exposure to EMF radiation, especially for vulnerable populations like children and pregnant women.”

Fique Foundation also conducts research and development into various EMF protective mechanisms. The organisation has recently launched The Silver Lining short film aiming to educate users on the harmful effects of technology, such as everyday devices and electricity sources.

“As we continue to push the boundaries of technology, it’s crucial that we also invest in understanding its potential impacts on our health. The concerns surrounding EMF radiation are not just a matter for scientists and policymakers; they affect each of us in our daily lives” states Devansh Sood, founder and CEO of activist platform Fique.

The post The Invisible Poison: Unmasking the Health Risks of EMF Radiation appeared first on The European Business Review.

Leadership, Development, and Workplace Well-being

The Seven Key Competencies for Collaborative Leadership

This article explores the essential skills and traits that leaders must develop to effectively navigate today’s dynamic and digital-driven business environments. The article highlights the shift from traditional, top-down leadership models to collaborative leadership styles, where leaders act more as facilitators, empowering teams to innovate and solve problems collectively.

Why read it? This article provides a framework for the competencies required to lead effectively in the digital age. Curious about the seven competencies of a collaborative leader? Find them in the link above.

Gen Z: The Least Happy Generation at Work – How Are They Shaping the Future of Work?

Gen Z, entering the workforce amid rapid social and economic change, is proving to be the least satisfied generation at work. The generation faces unique challenges that affect their workplace happiness. Why read it? Understanding the trends of the new generations entering the workplace will help businesses attract and retain top talent. Learn how to create intergeneration well-being at the office.

From Self-Doubt to Success: Conquering Imposter Syndrome to Thrive in Business and Career

Imposter syndrome—the feeling of inadequacy or lack of skills or talent —is a common challenge in the professional world. In this article, Lior Arussy reflects on his own experience with professional self-doubt and provides practical insights on how to overcome these feelings to unlock true potential.

Why read it? This article offers a thoughtful exploration of imposter syndrome and its impact on career growth. It also provides clear strategies for confronting self-doubt, recognizing personal achievements, and building lasting confidence in your work.

Bridging the Gender Gap: How to Bring More Women to Leadership Roles

Despite high-profile successes, women still encounter significant barriers such as unconscious biases, lack of role models, and stereotypes that hinder their progress. The article addresses the ongoing challenges women face in achieving leadership positions across various industries, from venture capital to the arts. Why read it? Research shows that diverse leadership creates better results. This article explores deep-rooted issues preventing women from reaching leadership roles and offers actionable solutions to break down these barriers.

Strategic Leadership for Growth in Turbulent Times

This article explores how leaders can navigate economic uncertainty and volatility to drive growth and success. Dr. Peter Lorange, drawing from his extensive experience, provides a strategic framework for leading through instability, emphasizing the importance of non-linear thinking, scenario planning, and bold investment strategies.

Why read it? This article presents actionable strategies for executives looking to turn crisis into opportunities by fostering innovative leadership and a culture of adaptability. Get prepared for the turbulent times we live in.

Tech, Business and Trade

Corporate Innovation in the Age of AI: A Changing Landscape

This article delves into how Generative AI (GenAI) is transforming corporate innovation. The article explores how this technology complements human creativity, accelerating ideation, problem-solving, and product development, while reshaping the future of R&D and business strategy.

Why read it? As AI becomes a driving force in corporate innovation, this article provides insights on how businesses can leverage GenAI to streamline processes, improve decision-making, and fuel sustainable growth.

AI and Cybersecurity: A New Battlefield

As AI continues to permeate every sector, it introduces complex challenges in cybersecurity. This article discusses how businesses and governments are grappling with the risks AI poses, including how to regulate it while protecting sensitive data. Leaders must be prepared to secure their operations in an increasingly AI-driven world.

Why read it? Understanding AI’s implications for security is crucial, as breaches or misuse of AI could cause significant harm to businesses.

The AI Hype Has Lost Its Momentum

While AI has been a hot topic for several years, this article explores how skepticism is starting to take hold among investors and economists. AI is powerful, but its promises may not be as immediate or disruptive as originally hoped.

Why read it? Business leaders need to manage expectations around AI adoption and its return on investment.

Is Tech a Trojan Horse of Capitalism?

A critical look at how big tech companies, such as Google and Meta, dominate the digital space by offering “free” services while silently expanding their tech empires. This article raises questions about the true cost of digital capitalism and what this means for businesses in 2025.

Why read it? With growing concerns around data privacy and monopolistic practices, leaders must understand the implications of their technology use.

Global Trade Uncertainty Looms over Trump’s Tariff Threats

With Donald Trump’s return to political prominence, trade uncertainty is on the rise. This article examines the potential impact of his tariff policies, especially on industries like manufacturing and agriculture, and how businesses should prepare.

Why read it? Tariffs can disrupt global supply chains. Understanding how to navigate these changes is essential for companies with international operations.

Mario Draghi: This is How Europe Can Compete with US and China

This article discusses Mario Draghi’s suggestions for the EU to regain competitiveness against the US and China by massively investing in innovation, digital infrastructure, and sustainable energy solutions.

Why read it? Europe’s strategic moves in the coming years will significantly affect global trade dynamics. The conversation about how to get Europe on track with tech, innovation and growth is relevant for leaders and investors in Europe and beyond.

The post Top Picks for 2025: Key Articles for Leaders and Readers appeared first on The European Business Review.

Before Trump has even appointed his full cabinet, one nominee has already withdrawn. Here, we portray the most significant members of Trump 2.0’s controversial inner circle.

Just eight days after being nominated to serve as Attorney General, Matt Gaetz withdrew under massive pressure. Gaetz was a controversial pick, facing an ongoing investigation regarding allegations of sexual misconduct and possible drug use. Other cabinet candidates could follow Gaetz’s trajectory, as all have yet to go through the vetting process in the Senate, scheduled for early 2025.

With most of his cabinet selections made, Trump’s picks have sparked controversy for various reasons. Let’s take a closer look at the most significant members of Trump 2.0’s inner circle.

J. D. Vance

Role: Vice President

J.D. Vance, born on August 4, 1984, in Middletown, Ohio, is a Republican U.S. Senator and has been selected as Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate for the 2024 election. A Marine Corps veteran and Yale Law School graduate, Vance gained national recognition with his bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which explores the struggles of working-class Americans. Initially a critic of Trump, he transformed into a supporter, securing Trump’s endorsement for his Senate campaign in 2021. His strong advocacy for Trump’s policies, combined with substantial financial backing from influential figures like Peter Thiel, has solidified his position within the party and made him a strategic choice for the vice presidency.

Elon Musk

Role: Influential Adviser and Co-Head of the Department of Government Efficiency

As the world’s richest man and CEO of six companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk has – controversially – leveraged his vast resources and social media influence to support Trump’s 2024 election. And his gambit paid off: Musk is believed to have added. Musk has been a resident at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago ever since the election win and has been appointed as co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (in short, DOGE, like the cryptocurrency Musk is involved with).

Analysts believe Musk will play a significant role in the new administration, particularly on initiatives that align with his business interests, such as public contracts and technological reforms. Here, Musk will likely approach government administration as he approaches business and engineering: rather cut off too many, than two few parts.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Role: Co-Head of the Department of Government Efficiency

Ramaswamy, a 39-year-old Indian-American entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, has been appointed co-head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency alongside Musk. Known for founding the biotech company Roivant Sciences and the politically conservative investment firm Strive Asset Management, Ramaswamy gained prominence during the 2024 Republican primaries with his anti-establishment views. A Harvard and Yale Law graduate, he advocates for reducing government size and combating “woke” culture.

With Ramaswamy and Musk chosen for non-cabinet roles, they are able to continue their CEO jobs alongside their roles in Trump’s new administration.

Scott Bessent

Role: Secretary of the Treasury

Scott Bessent has been nominated to serve as the Secretary of the Treasury. A hedge fund manager and founder of Key Square Group, Bessent is known for advocating deficit reduction, deregulation, and the extension of Trump-era tax cuts. During the campaign, Bessent promised voters a “new golden age with de-regulation, low-cost energy, [and] low taxes”. If confirmed, Bessent would make history as the first openly gay Treasury Secretary in a Republican administration.

Marco Rubio

Role: Secretary of State

Rubio, a neoconservative Republican, is known for his hardline foreign policy views, particularly regarding China and Iran. He has served on both the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees, advocating for a firm U.S. response to global threats.. His ideology emphasizes a strong national defense, support for Israel, and a confrontational stance against authoritarian regimes. This alignment with Trump’s “America First” agenda marks a significant change in his political stance since their rivalry during the 2016 presidential primaries.

Pete Hegseth

Role: Secretary of Defense

Trump has picked Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and Army veteran, as his Secretary of Defense. The choice has raised eyebrows because Hegseth has limited political experience. Hegseth is known for his strong conservative views and advocacy for military privatization. His appointment signals a shift towards a more aggressive military posture and a focus on eliminating perceived “wokeness” within the Pentagon.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Role: Secretary of Health and Human Services

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., often referred to as RFK Jr., has been appointed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This nomination follows Kennedy’s endorsement of Trump after he suspended his independent presidential campaign, aligning himself with the administration’s vision for public health reform.

Kennedy, a former environmental attorney, is known for his controversial views on vaccination safety, which have raised significant concerns among public health officials. He advocates for transparency in health policies and has criticized the influence of pharmaceutical companies on public health. However, his nomination has sparked mixed reactions, with some praising his commitment to health issues while others express alarm over his previous statements and misinformation regarding vaccines.

Tom Homan

Role: Border Czar

Former ICE Director Tom Homan has been appointed as a so-called “border czar,” responsible for overseeing border security and enforcement measures. His role aligns closely with Trump’s emphasis on strict immigration control and is expected to focus on implementing aggressive deportation measures.

After being nominated by the president, Trump’s cabinet picks must be confirmed by the Senate through a process that includes hearings and votes. This confirmation process typically takes place shortly after the presidential election, with votes usually occurring before or soon after the inauguration on January 20, 2025.

The post Trump 2.0: The Most Significant Members of His New Inner Circle appeared first on The European Business Review.

Donald Trump has repeatedly announced drastic tariffs in his upcoming presidency. What are the potential effects and consequences in the US and beyond? And is Trump actually going through with his controversial tariffs?

The election of Trump has ignited a lot of policy speculations. For businesses operating internationally, the most essential issue is tariffs. 

Tariffs – essentially import taxes – have been a favorite election topic for Trump, who has called tariffs the “the most beautiful word in the dictionary” and even said they can pave the way for global peace. 

Trump has proposed a 10% to 20% tariff on all imports from all countries except China, and a drastic 60% tariff on all imports from China. 

Effects in the US: Consumer 

Proponents of tariffs see the fees as a way to shield American industries, particularly manufacturing, from foreign competition. The idea is that by making imported goods more expensive, domestic products become more attractive to consumers. 

However, many economists and industry experts are worried about the actual effects. In the US, consumers can expect to pay significantly more for goods like clothing and electronics – should the tariffs be imposed. The Consumer Technology Association estimates that these tariffs could result in price hikes of 45% for laptops and tablets and 25.8% for smartphones. Such increases would likely be passed on to consumers, potentially decreasing demand and sales volumes. 

In other words, the purchasing power of American consumers, a central theme for the 2024 elections, could be further limited by tariffs. 

While Trump has promised American citizens that tariffs are “not going to be a cost to you, it’s a cost to another country”, economists generally call that misleading. 

European and Chinese Implications: Risk of Recession and Trade War

From a European perspective, Trump’s proposed tariff plans could have severe implications for EU economies and trade. According to the European Commission, the EU exported €502.3bn in goods to the US in 2023, accounting for 20% of EU exports. 

Analysts from the Dutch bank worry that the suggested tariffs “would cause a collapse in exports to the US”. They predict that tariffs could cut 1.5% off European growth, potentially putting the Eurozone, where many countries are already struggling, in recession. 

From China’s perspective, the proposed tariffs represent a significant threat to its export-driven economy. It’s likely that China would respond with retaliatory measures, potentially leading to a renewed trade war. 

Will Trump Actually Impose Tariffs? 

Trump reiterated his promise to impose tariffs in his victory speech: “promises made, promises kept” is a slogan he tours with following his win. 

However, the transition from campaign promises to actual policy often involves more nuanced planning and consideration of various economic and political realities. This is especially true for a politician like Trump, who has a more spontaneous character than more traditional politicians. 

If Trump decides to move forward with his proposed tariffs, he will likely face intense lobbying and arguing against his choice from companies as well as world leaders. 

While the president-elect may continue to discuss his tariff intentions in broad terms, it’s unlikely that Trump will announce specific tariff plans before his inauguration. Looking into Trump’s inner circle could provide some clues. 

Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, heads Mr. Trump’s transition team. He’s a big proponent of tariffs on imports from China as a substitute for income tax. 

In a recent – disputed – statement, Lutnick recently said: “Don’t tax our people. Make money instead. Put tariffs on China and make $400 billion”. 

However, another key member of Trump’s new inner circle, Elon Musk, has been a public critic of tariffs. As the CEO of Tesla, Musk relies heavily on global supply chains for components and materials. Tariffs could significantly increase costs and complicate procurement for his companies. In May 2024, Elon Musk said “Tesla competes quite well in the market in China with no tariffs and no deferential support. I’m in favour of no tariffs.”

If Trump decides to move forward with his proposed tariffs, he will likely face … lobbying against his choice. Many U.S. companies, particularly those relying on global supply chains, would likely lobby against extensive tariffs. 

Whether Elon Musk decides to use his position in Trump’s inner circle to argue against tariffs is up for speculation. Just as we can only speculate whether Trump’s tariff threats will shake global trade in 2025—or if they are merely a negotiating bluff.

The post Global Trade Uncertainty Looms over Trump’s Tariff Threats  appeared first on The European Business Review.

After a week of explosive crypto-growth following the US election, Bitcoin broke record after record. Will crypto continue its ascent following the US election? 

In the days following Donald Trump’s election victory in 2024, the cryptocurrency market – most notably Bitcoin – has seen a remarkable surge. The price of Bitcoin skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, reaching an all-time high of $93,495. On election day, a Bitcoin was worth just over $68,000. 

Other crypto coins have also surged dramatically. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has reached new highs for the year, trading above $3,000. Solana, another major cryptocurrency, has also been one of the top performers, with its price – at its peak – more than doubling in the week following the election. 

Donald Trump’s Election Fuels Crypto Growth 

The crypto market’s bullish response to Trump’s victory stems from his campaign promises and recent pro-cryptocurrency stance. During his campaign, Trump pledged to make the US ‘the crypto capital of the planet’. This includes ending what he has called an “anti-crypto crusade” and installing a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment. 

Without specifying new legislation, Trump has created anticipation of deregulation in the crypto space. Trump has aired an idea of establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve as well as engaging the US more proactively in Bitcoin mining. Furthermore, the president-elect has vowed to remove Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, known for his stringent stance on cryptocurrencies. 

With Trump still a president-elect, he has yet to put action behind any of his words. As such, the rapid ascent of crypto is based on anticipation rather than actual policies. 

Other factors are also weighing in. Blackrock’s recent institutional embrace of Bitcoin is another. Their Bitcoin adoption is part of a broader trend of major financial institutions investing billions and adding a great deal of credibility. 

Will the Crypto Ascent Continue? 

After the historic rise in Bitcoin’s price following Trump’s election victory, there are mixed signals about whether the crypto rally will continue. After hitting a record high this Tuesday, the price dropped slightly, only to make a strong comeback, greatly surpassing the $90,000 milestone.

Throughout 2024, investors and crypto experts have speculated whether Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 by year-end. At the current rate, that could happen within a week – although there are no guarantees that the bullmarket will continue at the same pace or even at all. 

A majority of experts believe that the coin will surpass the $100,000 mark by the end of 2024, while a minority expects a bear market. 

Despite the overall bullish sentiment, some experts advise caution in the short term. As always, the cryptocurrency market is volatile in the short term, with potential for both significant gains and corrections. 

The Role of Crypto in the US Election 

The surge in cryptocurrency prices following Trump’s election victory highlights the growing intersection between politics, technology, and finance. 

Trump has previously called Bitcoin a “scam against the dollar”. In his presidential campaign, however, Trump embraced cryptocurrency in what appears to be a strategic move to sway young voters, particularly young men, who are more likely to be interested in and invested in cryptocurrencies. With 56% of men between the ages of 18 and 29 voting for Trump, his strategic embrace of crypto might have played a role in his victory. 

As we move forward, all eyes will clearly be on the incoming Trump administration’s actions regarding actual cryptocurrency regulation and deregulation. The market will likely remain sensitive to policy announcements and appointments to key regulatory positions. The next few months will be crucial in determining whether the current crypto rally is sustainable or if it’s a short-term reaction to campaign promises.

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By Marcelina Horrillo Husillos, Journalist and Correspondent at The European Business Review

According to the Guardian, consumption rates differ wildly from region to region, but on the whole, we’re consuming the planet’s resources 1.7 times faster than they can regenerate. This means that in the long run, we’d need 1.7 Earths to sustain our current levels of consumption, which is obviously unsustainable. It wasn’t always like this: back in 1961, humanity only needed 0.74 Earths to support its consumption levels.

For instance, between 1970 and 2021, U.S. consumer spending has increased by 400 percent, however the population has only grown by 60 percent, meaning individuals are consuming more than they used to. Yet the worldwide population has more than doubled since 1961, and our use of resources has closely tracked that growth. Between 1985 and 2005, worldwide resource extraction increased by around 50 percent, according to a report by the environmental non-profit Friends of the Earth.

Meanwhile, Dr Gray draws attention to the negative influence of overproduction and consumption: “Higher production rates meant the water footprint of our textiles increased by 8%, totalling 3.1 billion m³ which is enough water to provide more than half of the people in the world (53%) with drinking water every day for a year. Similarly, increased production has also slashed the actual carbon reduction to just 2%. That is the consequence of overproduction and overconsumption.”

The social narrative encourages us to keep consuming and over consuming, however not only over consumption kills our planet, but it also kills our soul. Increasingly sophisticated marketing and sales strategies linked to our inner psychological drive, put the individual under emotional pressure, exploiting his weaknesses, leading him like a wimp towards the goal of over purchasing.

Constructed trends and sneaky aggressive selling tactics aim to interfere our identity, creating confusion in our decision-making ability, affecting our natural self-development capabilities, and our genuine capacity for self-creativity. Marketing strategists for online retailers invest large amount of time and effort meticulously studying user and buyer psychology and try to find out how to exploit our psychological triggers. There are even designing casino-like shopping experiences, and intentionally preventing critical thinking to sell more.

Internet and any space outside the net is filled with an endless list of terms such as in one single click, buy and pay later, easy buy, dress for less, easy jet, easy learning, simple business etc., which promotes the idea that our modern societies are evolving to become a global system that makes life easier and simpler for people. Yet our life hasn’t been ever more complex and difficult to handle, only the process of purchasing things is rapidly becoming easier!

Online shopping fuelling over-consumption

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital channels, have become by far the most popular shopping alternative for consumers around the world, sparking an extraordinary increase in online purchases. In June 2020, global retail e-commerce traffic reached a record 22 billion monthly visits and a staggering US$26.7 trillion in sales.

Orchestrated shopping “events” such as ‘Singles’ Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, retailers have monopolised the global economy such as Amazon, Walmart and Alibaba, and smaller companies, are trying to keep up to stay afloat within the industry by pressuring people, to purchase products under the spell of discounts and limited time. Though this year these three events, which all take place in November, recorded enormous online sales billions in sales.

Easy, Everything, and Fast

• The concepts of effortlessness and easiness are aligned with our over-consumption and online shopping patterns. The so-called modern societies, are named it pretty much due to the fact that our lives have almost a compulsory goal of pursuing “easiness”. Less effort to achieve and do things is synonym of effectiveness, success and smartness in our days. Easy is synonym of modernity, while the opposite is generally perceived as old fashioned.
• Achieve everything is another mantra in today’s society. Deprivation of anything and austerity, are almost synonyms of failure and poverty in today’s world. We repeat to our ourselves that we need to be in a position to provide us and to “our families” ‘Every Thing’; and we get depressed and perceive us a failure if we don’t get to do it. The ideal of perfect parent is the one that provides everything to his kids. The image of a failure parent is the one that cannot provide everything to his family.
• We pretend to worship time while we are absorbed by the maelstrom of over production and over consumption, and we keep rushing, trying to catch it all, rushing to get everything, rushing towards nowhere, while there is not even time to stop for a moment and think what are we really doing.

Online shopping is knowledgeable of these three factors and provide to meet these requirements, and so the dynamic represents a perfect circle without a gap, as “while purchasing goods becomes easier for people, it also becoming significantly easier for sellers to get these goods into people livelihoods and so on…”

From a psychological perspective, being able to access everything in the easiest way and in a fastest manner, brings us a false feeling of inner peace and comfort, as it reinforces the idea of control and alignment with the right path to modernity. From an objective perspective, we are ‘swimming in the mud’, getting lazier, fickle, demotivated, anxious, over-indulging ourselves, persistently looking in the outside for solutions for the inside, walking miles away from our real selves. Yet we are placed in the right perfect spot where over consumerism wants us to be!

Microtrends

Short-lived trends or microtrends are impossible to keep up with, they are also extremely detrimental to the environment, and they also kill our sense of individualism. In our pursuit of social integration, we let ourselves to be dragged by what’s supposed to be fashionable and socially acceptable.

Ciornea (2020) defines clothing overconsumption as “behaviour that implies frequent purchase of more apparel than needed and substitution of clothes while they are functional, due to reasons such as social integration, status communication, personal desire to be fashionable, impulsive purchase”

The creation of endless microtrends is a designed and planned sales strategy that connects directly to our inner psychological drives at a cognitive level. It creates a blockade effect in our minds that makes us feel trapped in endless disquisitions over product-focused choices. Although our psyche interprets these decisions as linked to our values. For instance, choosing what dress to buy seems like a simple action that requires a simple decision. However, this decision is tangled with the “endless microtrends” effect, which links it to disquisitions such as status, self-perception, self-esteem, socialization, our connection with the world, and how would we like to be perceived in this distorted image of the world and the society these trends keeping building and redesigning.

Subtly microtrends impose the imperative rule of ‘what’s right and what’s wrong’, ‘what’s in and what’s definitely out’; and this subtle imposition creates pressure on the individual, killing his natural processes of choice, which are part of his evolution, his growth and his growth in consciousness.

The microtrends sales strategy aims to erase this natural process and replace it with the imposed trends. The aim is to create insecurity in the individual, to unbalance him as much as possible, targeting his emotional state, precisely his emotional weaknesses. This is a pernicious and merciless psychological tactic aiming to control as much as possible the individual and his actions, where for instance a simple act of spontaneity to try to escape the psychological trap, will translate into an impulsive purchasing action to release the inflicted pressure.

“It is another of consumerism’s ironies that, although it functions like a mental trap, we often think of it as an escape” J.B. MacKinnon, addresses in his book “The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves” the paradox of over-production and over-consumption in modern society, seeking for ways to scape it.

Voluntary Simplicity

Sometimes referred to as “simple living,” “the simple life,” or “downshifting” is a lifestyle choice that minimizes the needless consumption of material goods and the pursuit of wealth for its own sake, it aims to achieve a lifestyle not linked to the accumulation of material possession. It aims to reclaim the long-time forgotten inner self and seeks self-rencounter.

A century after Thoreau, the hippie counterculture brought a voluntary simplicity vibe to the 1960s and early ’70s, with its rejection of material goods and its embrace of communal living and a back-to-the-land movement. By 1971, former Beatle John Lennon was urging fans and followers to “imagine no possessions,” in his song “Imagine.”

In our modern developed societies, the “simple living,” trend represents the psychological escape panacea from the trap that presumably consumerism inflicts on people. In undeveloped countries such concept as “voluntary simplicity” would be often hard to grasp, and impossible to sustain, when for instance basic needs in a community are far from being covered.

The trend of voluntary simplicity is born as a result of the tiresomeness and chronic dissatisfaction of human beings feeling betrayed by a societal system that failed them and didn’t address their real needs. The dream of achieving Simple life is based on the hope for escape of a gloomy system, that extracts human’s souls while keeps promoting rosy feelings of happiness and freedoms.

Objectively speaking, voluntary simplicity is a lifestyle choice that only strongly privileged people (versus 733 million people -1 in 11- go hungry every day) can afford to even think about. Therefore, seeing it from a global perspective, voluntary simplicity seems like a whim from people whose basic needs are not on risk of being uncovered.

Finally voluntary simplicity seems like another emerging fashionable trend, in which commercial marketing can put its rags on, thus the societal narrative can integrate as part of its endless speech. While we keep conforming societal status quo, voluntary simplicity seems like a weak escape attempt for our damaged souls already sold to the over production – over consumption devil.

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The EU has imposed new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, a decision that has divided EU members and elicited a fast response from Beijing.

The European Union has imposed significant tariffs on electric vehicles, particularly on those imported from China. Following a year-long anti-subsidy investigation, the European Commission has established tariffs ranging from 7.8% for Tesla to 35.3% for SAIC, a Chinese manufacturer. The new tariffs will be applied on top of the existing 10% standard car import duty. 

The tariffs have been imposed after the European Commission concluded that the EV “value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidisation”. According to the Commission, this is “causing a threat of economic injury” to European EV manufacturers. 

European carmakers face challenges after a surge in cheaper EVs from Chinese competitors. The European Commission estimates that the market share of Chinese brands in the EU has increased from less than 1% in 2019 to 8% currently, with projections suggesting it could reach 15% by 2025. The Chinese EVs are typically priced about 20% lower than their EU counterparts. 

The new tariffs take effect the same week as the German Volkswagen announced the closure of three domestic factories, marking the first time in the car giant’s 87-year history that they have closed homeland production. Difficulties in selling cars in the Chinese market, where local vehicles offer a favorable price-quality ratio, are a primary reason for shutting down production. The German economy – recently seen as the European powerhouse – is currently in decline for the second consecutive year. 

Towards a Beijing Backlash? 

China has already reacted with an official statement: “China does not agree with or accept the ruling,” the Chinese commerce ministry stated Wednesday. The statement calls the tariffs “protectionist” and “arbitrary”. 

As a consequence, China has already informed its carmakers to halt big investments in the European countries that support the additional tariffs on Chinese EVs. This could be the first of several steps, if the two powers fail to reach a diplomatic solution.

Both parties have an interest in avoiding a trade war: Europe relies on China for critical raw minerals, while China relies more heavily on the EU for exports than vice versa. 

The Chinese commerce ministry has stated that it hopes to find a “solution acceptable to both sides as soon as possible to avoid escalating trade friction,” while the EU has said that technical negotiation can resume with the new tariffs imposed. 

European Tariff Division 

The tariffs have created internal division in the EU as well. Of the 27 EU members, five voted against tariffs while 12 abstained from voting. 

Germany, the largest car producer in Europe, opposes the tariffs. The German car industry shares this stance. The CEO of BMW, Oliver Zipse, called the tariffs a “fatal signal for the European automotive industry.” He argues that what “is needed now is a quick settlement between the EU Commission and China to prevent a trade conflict from which no one gains.” 

The EU is not alone in considering tariffs on Chinese products. Trump, who could be elected as US President in less than a week, recently revealed plans to increase tariffs on European and especially Chinese imports. 

This continues a broader trend of superpower competition via internal subsidization and external tariffs to build and protect strategic industries, reinforcing a shift towards protectionism and further distancing globalist, free-trade-oriented approaches of the recent past.

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After a year of dwindling iPhone sales, Apple has released Apple Intelligence. Will the tech giants bet on AI help regain their momentum in innovation?

For the past decade, Apple has been critiqued for a lack of innovation–and increasingly so. As Apple sells fewer iPhone’s–by far Apple’s biggest source of revenue–the company seems forced to return to its roots of high innovation levels. Recent launches indicate they have chosen to bet on AI. 

Can Apple’s Pivot to AI Save the iPhone? 

The launch of Apple Intelligence follows the release of the iPhone 16 in September, which features hardware specifically designed to enhance Apple’s AI capabilities. 

With the launch of Apple Intelligence, Apple hopes to cash in on AI advancements like Google, Microsoft, and Meta, which have all gone all-in on AI much earlier than Apple. A central problem for Apple is that iPhone users upgrade their devices less often as the level of innovation has gone down. Will the new AI-infused iPhone help with that? Let’s take a look at its features and reception. 

New AI Features 

A number of features have been rolled out, seeking to help users with summarizing, prioritizing and organizing. 

To help with that, Apple has re-launched Siri. Siri was one of the first widely adopted AI assistants when it was introduced in 2011. Like other voice assistants, it has perhaps been more ridiculed than it has been helpful. 

With Apple Intelligence, Siri has received a makeover to become “more natural, flexible, and deeply integrated into the system experience” as Apple writes. Siri has been integrated to be an assistant across iPhone, iPad and Mac.

A new feature called Writing Tools allows Apple users to get AI assistance rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing texts everywhere they write, from Mail, Messages, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps. 

Other features have also been designed to help users summarize and prioritize information. Priority Messages is designed to show users the most important emails. An email feature also summarizes messages without requiring users to open them. A new feature called notification summaries is designed to enable users to quickly get the key details of notifications. 

Finally, a number of new AI photo features allows users to use natural language search for finding photos and videos, a new tool to remove unwanted elements, and the ability to create personalized “Memory Movies” with text prompts. 

Apple calls the release “the first set of Apple Intelligence features”, stating that more features are to come. 

A Mixed Reception 

The launch of Apple Intelligence has received mixed reviews from early users and media outlets. 

While some features show promise, the overall reception has been somewhat lukewarm. Vox called the technology “magically mediocre” after testing a developer beta, stating that “Apple Intelligence is not that scary, not that advanced, and definitely not finished.” The Washington Post found that a pre-release version showed inaccurate results, including misinterpreting text and incorrectly prioritizing phishing emails. 

Some of the post-release reviews have been more positive, such as CNET writing that “Apple Intelligence shows a lot of promise.” The consensus, however, is that Apple Intelligence still has a long way to go to revolutionize the smartphone. 

Is AI going to reinvigorate the innovative spirit at Apple and save the iPhone? The jury is still out and we will likely need quite a few IOS updates to really know if Apple is the company to successfully integrate AI in smartphones. Rather than catching up with their Big Tech AI competitors, Apple, like Google before them, currently looks like a company struggling to keep up with the competition.

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The Quest of Governments, Institutions, and Businesses for Regulation

AI has become a powerful tool in the geopolitical arena, where state-sponsored attacks are increasingly common. The third quarter of 2024 saw the average weekly cyber-attacks per organization climb to an all-time high of 1,876, marking a staggering 75% increase from the same period in 2023 and a 15% uptick from the previous quarter. This surge underscores the trend that virtual threats are becoming more frequent and sophisticated. These attacks are not just about financial gain but are being used as weapons in global politics, disrupting economies and undermining democratic institutions.

The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) has called for international policy on the use of AI in cyber warfare. Without global cooperation, the AI arms race could escalate, leading to further destabilization.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries and reshaping the global economy, yet this surge in AI integration comes with an alarming downside: the growing risk of AI-driven cyberattacks. From autonomous hacking systems to sophisticated phishing scams, AI is not only empowering businesses—it’s also arming cybercriminals.

The critical question we must address is: Can current cybersecurity strategies evolve fast enough to confront this challenge? And equally important, what role should governments and institutions play in protecting individuals from this unprecedented threat?

AI: Both a Defender and an Attacker

AI offers tremendous opportunities to enhance cybersecurity. Advanced AI-powered systems can now detect anomalies in real-time, respond to threats faster than any human, and predict potential vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. According to a Capgemini report, 69% of organizations believe AI is necessary to respond to cybersecurity threats.

However, there’s a dark side to this technology. Cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to automate attacks, refine techniques, and carry out large-scale breaches. Phishing remains a major threat in cybersecurity, with attacks growing more frequent and sophisticated each year. In 2024, we have seen an alarming 856% increase in malicious emails, illustrating the scale and severity of the problem. The dramatic rise in phishing in 2024 is fueled by technological advancements, with cybercriminals using tools like generative AI to create convincing phishing emails and malicious code. These tools allow attackers to automate and refine their tactics, making it easier to deceive their targets. As a result, phishing has become a more formidable challenge for both individuals and organizations. These are no ordinary phishing attempts—AI can craft highly personalized, convincing emails that easily bypass traditional detection methods.

Worse still, attackers can leverage AI to develop adversarial attacks—where AI models themselves are manipulated to perform incorrectly. This has been seen in cases where attackers feed incorrect data to AI systems, causing them to misclassify, overlook vulnerabilities, or even grant unauthorized access.

Current cybersecurity frameworks may already be struggling to keep pace with AI-enhanced attacks. Traditional methods like firewalls, anti-virus programs, and manual threat detection cannot effectively counteract the scale, speed, and sophistication of AI-driven breaches. The sheer volume of data AI can process means that a targeted attack can happen in seconds, and often without raising any immediate alarms.

Can Cybersecurity Keep Up?

Current cybersecurity frameworks may already be struggling to keep pace with AI-enhanced attacks. Traditional methods like firewalls, anti-virus programs, and manual threat detection cannot effectively counteract the scale, speed, and sophistication of AI-driven breaches. The sheer volume of data AI can process means that a targeted attack can happen in seconds, and often without raising any immediate alarms.

“From my hands-on experience in the cybersecurity domain, one case stands out: a global financial services firm that experienced a breach due to an AI-powered botnet. The botnet, which was designed to infiltrate their network using adaptive learning, bypassed traditional security protocols. Within 12 hours, it had compromised sensitive financial data across five continents. Had the firm been equipped with AI-enhanced cybersecurity systems, the breach may have been detected in real-time, rather than weeks later “ states Dr. Amr Kenawy, Executive Director, Growth at Cyberteq

The Human Element in AI Cybersecurity

Despite the sophistication of AI tools, human expertise remains indispensable. Cybersecurity professionals, especially those specializing in adversarial AI, are crucial in developing countermeasures for AI attacks. As someone who has spent years on the front lines of cybersecurity, I’ve witnessed firsthand how AI systems can be deceived by bad actors and the importance of human intervention in mitigating damage. One notable incident involved an AI-based fraud detection system that was bypassed due to a carefully designed adversarial attack. Only manual inspection by experienced professionals identified the breach and prevented further loss.

In fact, research from MIT found that a hybrid approach combining human oversight with AI resulted in a 22% increase in cybersecurity effectiveness compared to AI alone. This underscores the importance of training cybersecurity teams to collaborate with AI tools rather than relying on automation entirely.

Governments and Institutions: The Guardians of Cybersecurity

With AI-driven cyberattacks growing in complexity, governments and institutions must play a proactive role in protecting citizens and critical infrastructure. But what should this role look like?

1. Regulation and Standardization

Governments must set clear AI safety standards. This leaves a significant gap in global preparedness. We need enforceable regulations around the ethical use of AI, mandatory cybersecurity protocols for businesses, and greater transparency in the development of AI systems.

For instance, in 2023, the European Union passed the AI Act, which requires companies to undergo rigorous testing of AI models to ensure their safety, particularly in high-risk applications. Governments worldwide must adopt similar legislation.

2. Public-Private Partnerships

A coordinated response between government agencies and private sectors is vital to combating AI threats. The 2023 SolarWinds attack, which compromised multiple U.S. federal agencies, highlighted the need for stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors. Governments must lead initiatives where threat intelligence is shared seamlessly, allowing companies to quickly act on vulnerabilities.

3. Investment in AI-Driven Cyber Defense

Governments should invest heavily in AI-enhanced cybersecurity technologies. The global cybersecurity market is projected to reach $366 billion by 2028, with AI playing a key role in this growth. By providing grants and incentives to companies developing AI-based defense systems, governments can ensure that their nation’s infrastructure remains secure against AI-driven threats.

4. Education and Public Awareness

Cybersecurity literacy is essential for individuals and businesses alike. One of the biggest challenges we face is public ignorance about AI threats. Google’s Threat Analysis Group reported that over 60% of phishing victims had never heard of AI-generated phishing attacks. Governments must lead educational campaigns that not only inform the public about these emerging threats but also provide actionable advice on how to protect against them.

Governance, Risk, and Compliance: A Critical Pillar in AI Cybersecurity

In the face of AI-driven cyber threats, Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) frameworks are more critical than ever. Effective GRC ensures that organizations not only comply with regulatory requirements but also manage risks proactively. With the rise of AI, these frameworks must evolve to address new challenges.

AI brings significant risk to data integrity, privacy, and security, and organizations must be vigilant in aligning their AI usage with ethical standards and legal requirements.

According to a Deloitte survey, many companies are beginning to test or use Generative AI, yet more than half (56%) of respondents don’t know or are unsure if their organizations have ethical standards guiding its use, according to Deloitte’s second annual report on the “State of Ethics and Trust in Technology. Yet AI regulations a major concern, particularly as AI systems can easily breach privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA when improperly governed. Furthermore, AI models used in sensitive industries, such as healthcare or finance, are particularly vulnerable to regulatory scrutiny.

Yet GRC poor practices can lead to AI models unknowingly violating compliance standards—ultimately resulting in both financial penalties and reputational damage. Implementing robust GRC measures, including continuous risk assessments and regular audits of AI systems, is essential to ensuring these technologies operate within a safe and lawful framework.

Governments and institutions must work together to update compliance requirements to cover the unique risks AI introduces. Failing to address these concerns could leave organizations exposed not only to cyberattacks but also to severe legal and financial consequences.

A Collective Response to an Evolving Threat

AI is both an opportunity and a threat in the world of cybersecurity. On one side, it enhances our defenses and gives us the tools to anticipate attacks. On the other, it empowers adversaries to launch more sophisticated and far-reaching breaches. Governments, institutions, and businesses must come together, combining AI with human expertise, and implementing strong regulations to protect individuals from this growing menace.

As we enter this new era of AI-powered threats, the future of cybersecurity will depend not only on technology but also on global collaboration, regulation, and awareness. The stakes are higher than ever—and failure to act could leave us all vulnerable.

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Kamala Harris or Donald Trump as the next US president? With just a week left of the election campaign, we explore how the outcome might affect stock markets. 

A dramatic election campaign is about to culminate. With just a week left of the campaign, the race looks too close to call, with Kamala Harris taking 49% of the votes in The New York Times national polling average, while Trump receives 48%. 

It’s well-known that major events such as the US election affect the stock markets. Understanding how is where it gets challenging. According to research by Investopedia, election outcomes do not make a clear difference in the stock markets in the long run. Instead, we can expect the election to have short-term and sector-specific impacts. 

US elections can have significant ripple effects on stock markets outside the US. Global markets often experience increased volatility during US election periods, especially if the outcome is uncertain as in this election. 

Short-Term Volatility 

Historically, stock market volatility tends to rise as election day approaches. The Volatility Index (VIX), often referred to as the “fear index,” typically shows an uptick in the months leading up to the election. 

The root causes of this electoral volatility are multifaceted. Policy uncertainty looms large, with investors anxiously gaming out how potential shifts in economic, tax, and regulatory landscapes might reshape various sectors. The possibility of dramatic changes in foreign policy or trade relationships adds another layer of complexity, perhaps especially in this election where the two candidates stand for radically different visions. 

The electoral volatility and its impact on the VIX can have significant effects on actual stocks in several ways. As the VIX rises, indicating higher expected volatility, individual stocks often experience larger price swings. This can lead to more pronounced daily gains and losses across the market. Furthermore, there’s uncertainty about election outcomes, investors often move their money between safer (defensive) sectors and more growth-oriented (cyclical) sectors. This shift can create fluctuations in the stock prices of specific sectors.

The current VIX at 19,21% suggests moderate rather than extreme volatility. A contested or delayed election result would likely lead to a sharp increase in market volatility, as seen in the aftermath of the 2000 and 2020 elections. 

Sector-Specific Effects: Energy, Tax and Tariffs 

The energy sector is a good example of the sector-specific impacts we can expect from the election. 

If Donald Trump secures victory, he is expected to prioritize fossil fuels, advocating for increased domestic oil and gas production. His administration would likely focus on rolling back environmental regulations, expediting permits for drilling and pipeline projects, and promoting energy independence. This approach could result in short-term gains for fossil fuel companies. 

A Harris presidency would likely accelerate investments in renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Harris has been a strong advocate for clean energy initiatives and is expected to support policies that encourage the transition to electric vehicles, potentially benefiting those industries in the short term. 

Tax and tariff policies are a key difference between Harris and Trump, with Harris wanting to increase corporate taxes on the most profitable companies from 21% to 28%. According to CSIS, Trump, on the other hand, has proposed a “10–20 percent across-the-board tariff on imports into the United States, as well as an additional 60 percent tariff on all imports from China.” 

While a Harris win could negatively impact corporate profits and stock valuations in the short term, Trump’s more confrontational approach to China could impact companies reliant on trade and imports, while also potentially increasing the risk of a trade war. 

Long-term perspectives 

Even if things are volatile in the present, the long-term perspectives following an election are – statistically – promising. As Peter Repetto says to Quartz: “What’s interesting to us is irrespective of which party holds the White House, you actually typically see pretty good gains in S&P 500 the year following the election with the median return basically being around 16%. So even though we could see volatility in the near term, we do think that investors should either weather the storm or add to allocations that they de-risked heading into the election.” 

While the upcoming election may introduce short-term volatility and sector-specific impacts, historical trends suggest that the stock market tends to recover and perform well in the long run, regardless of the election outcome. Some will benefit from short-term volatility, while many are likely to benefit from remaining focused on their long-term strategies and diversified approaches.

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Big Tech corporations such as Google and Meta have essentially colonized the world, by starting to supposedly offering “free” services (which were paid for by selling users’ information). Those “free” platforms soon became monopolies, and were so deeply embedded into the economy that they became digital utilities, albeit privatized ones. A 21st-century economy needs all of those basic utilities plus new digital infrastructure. These Big Tech monopolies of the 21st century act as corporate feudal lords, controlling all of the digital land upon which the digital economy is based.

Then there is the cloud infrastructure that apps and websites use, which is dominated by a few mostly US companies. Amazon Web Services (AWS) had 31% of global market share as of the first quarter of 2024, followed by 25% for Microsoft Azure, and 11% for Google Cloud. Together, these three big US Silicon Valley companies control 67% of the world’s cloud computing market. This is a kind of monopolistic chokehold on the internet itself.

With the raise of AI geopolitical swing states will have a dominant role in shaping the AI-enabled landscape, which by consequence becomes the new world order future. Moreover, these players may form innovation blocs, creating alliances and partnerships with more dominant states or cooperating with each other to pursue common goals.

Individual freedoms – with tech companies reaching into the most intimate corners of our lives –; and the freedom of states – these not grouped together with the dominant techy states – are increasingly and disturbingly jeopardized.

Big Tech and Digital Neo-feudalism

In September 1970 Milton Friedman wrote an essay for the New York Times headed The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits. He argued that business should only be motivated by profits, that any concern about social impact was superfluous, and it set the framework for decades of neoliberalism.

The US Big Tech monopolies of the 21st century act as corporate feudal lords, controlling all of the digital land upon which the digital economy is based. Big Tech monopolists of the 21st century don’t control just a single market, or a few related ones, but the whole market place. They can create and destroy entire markets. Their monopolistic control extends well beyond just one country, to almost the entire world. If a competitor does manage to create a new product, US Big Tech monopolies can make it disappear.

For instance, Amazon is more powerful than any 19th-century robber baron could have imagined. It charges exorbitant fees to vendors that sell goods on its platform (goods that Amazon had nothing to do with creating), and can copy their product and make its own version if it looks profitable.

The platform takes more than 50% of the revenue of the sellers on its platform, according to a study by the e-commerce intelligence firm Marketplace Pulse. A staggering 82-90% of purchases on Amazon use the “buy box” – the platform removes the button if a user sells a product at a price higher than those offered on competing websites- .So if a business does not list the price that Amazon wants, they won’t receive the buy box, and their sales will fall.

As Reuters reported in 2021, “A trove of internal Amazon documents reveals how the e-commerce giant ran a systematic campaign of creating knockoff goods and manipulating search results to boost its own product lines”.

Apple, the largest company on Earth by market capitalization (with a $3.41 trillion market cap as of August 1, 2024), uses many of the same tactics as Amazon. It charges a 30% fee on all purchases done in apps that are downloaded using the iOS store. Apple is not providing any significantly service; it simply allows people to download an app that it itself does not manage. All Apple does is host the app, nothing more. It is a digital landlord.

In other words, if a user of an iPhone, iPad, or Mac downloads a third-party app through the App Store, Apple requires 30% rent for the business done by those other companies. This is despite the fact that Apple has nothing to do with that business. The other firms manage the commerce and maintain their apps; Apple is merely the neo-feudal lord demanding its tribute.

In his 2024 book Technofeudalism, economist Yanis Varoufakis described this new form of monopolized technological capital as “cloud capital”, owned by oligarchs he dubbed “cloudalists”. Varoufakis observed that Amazon does not just dominate the marketplace; it creates demand for products that customers did not even know existed, by manipulating its algorithm. It therefore can create (and destroy) markets.

Now that US Big Tech monopolies are deeply embedded into the fabric of the global economy, with almost no competitors, large corporations control the government, and create policy on behalf of wealthy shareholders.

AI and Technofeudalism

Goldman Sachs Research estimates the widespread adoption of AI could contribute 1.5% to annual productivity growth over a ten-year period, lifting global GDP by nearly $7 trillion. The research states that the generative AI ecosystem will empower incumbent enterprises and also likely define the next generation of Big Tech companies. Private AI investment globally is considerable and growing, and is forecast to increase to more than $160 billion by 2025.

At the heart of the AI revolution are corporations such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Alibaba and Tencent. They have massive resources that outstrip most states, spending tens of billions of dollars on research and development every year. These corporations have access to pools of human talent and data that most states can only dream of. They will come under major pressure to align with their ‘home’ governments in a fragmenting world, but have the capability to be political actors in their own right and to slip national moorings in pursuit of their own corporate interests. The products they choose to develop can bring huge benefits to humanity but may also unleash forces that destroy social trust, reduce freedom and are difficult to control. Their decisions on what and where to invest, will be pivotal not only in shaping what kind of AI emerges in future, but also to the inter-state balance of power.

The drive to master AI in geopolitics was featured by the geopolitical “scramble” for AI triggered in 2023—represented by states as diverse as Britain, France, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and China—undoubtedly sparked by generative AI and machine learning more broadly.

“Cloud capital is a networked machinery. The purpose of which is for us to train it, to train us, to train it, to train us, to train it, to train us, to train it, to train us, to ad infinitum, to know us, to give us good advice, win over our mind and heart through good advice, and then input desires into our bosom, which then the same algorithm satisfies directly by selling it to us, bypassing every market, and in the process collecting 40% of the price from the capitalist, the vassal capitalist who also dwells in this digital fiefdom called amazon.com.

[Jeff] Bezos doesn’t give a damn about what you buy. He doesn’t make anything. He simply controls the digital system. He’s a technofeudal Lord on which all transactions take place through matching buyers and sellers by his algorithm that prevent you from talking to anyone, including the person you’re buying from and collecting a ground rent, which I call the cloud rent.” Yanis Varoufakis

Conclusion

We can no longer ignore the risks posed by concentrating so much power in the hands of a few companies. The reality is that our current digital infrastructure is far too reliant on these monopolies, leaving us vulnerable to both human errors and geopolitical dominance. Ultimately tech by each of its forms, bases its survival in the relation of dependency that it creates with its users.

The digital infrastructure upon which the modern economy is built must be nationalized and turned into public utilities, like water, electricity, and highways. That said, the US government nationalizing Silicon Valley Big Tech companies does not solve the problem of the lack of digital sovereignty in other countries. If Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta are nationalized, this would still mean the United States has enormous power over nations whose economies rely on this US-controlled digital infrastructure.

AI in terms of manipulating human behaviour is so far under-studied. Manipulative marketing strategies have existed for long time. However, these strategies in combination with collection of enormous amounts of data for AI algorithmic systems have far expanded the capabilities of what firms can do to drive users to choices and behaviour that ensures higher profitability. Digital firms can shape the framework and control the timing of their offers, and can target users at the individual level with manipulative strategies that are much more effective and difficult to detect.

Breaking the dependency from the tech and from the monopoly of Big tech corporations seems nothing but an odyssey, yet gaining awareness about where we are as individuals is key to protect our individual space and inner freedom.

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Sam Altman and OpenAI recently completed a historic funding round, all while co-founders and executives are fleeing the company in a potentially game-changing brain drain. Is OpenAI okay?

OpenAI has recently secured a massive $6.6 billion funding round, valuing the company at an astounding $157 billion. This funding was led by Thrive Capital and included participation from existing backers like Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as new investors such as SoftBank and Fidelity.

In a press release, OpenAI writes: “The new funding will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems.”

Notably, investors were required to refrain from backing rival AI startups, a strategic move to consolidate OpenAI’s market position. This type of exclusivity clause in investment agreements is neither typical nor entirely unprecedented, and reflects OpenAI’s strong market position and the high interest in investing in the company.

While OpenAI attracts some of the world’s biggest companies and investors, internally, the company bleeds talent and appears challenged and divided.

Exodus of Co-Founders and Executives

The historic funding round happens simultaneously with the departure of OpenAI’s CTO, Mira Murati, and other leading figures in the company. As CTO of OpenAI between May 2022 and September 2024, Murati played a central role in the (re)development of several groundbreaking OpenAI technologies like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Sora. Murati was also the face of the launch of GPT-4o earlier this year.

Murati’s resignation adds to a growing list of leadership changes at OpenAI. OpenAI’s chief research officer Bob McGrew and vice president of research Barret Zoph also recently announced their departures while a number of co-founders have left in recent months. Notably, Ilya Sutskevever, instrumental in the creation of ChatGPT and OpenAI’s work with AI safety and ethics, left to form his own AI safety start-up. Greg Brockman, co-founder and loyal defender of Sam Altman, also left OpenAI for a sabbatical, his future role in the company currently unknown.

Of OpenAI’s 11 co-founders, only two of them, Sam Altman and Wojciech Zaremba, are currently active in the company.

Altman has reacted to the exodus saying that “Leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding”.

Conflicts Over Safety and Profit

In November 2023, Altman was unexpectedly fired as CEO of OpenAI by the board of directors. The board cited concerns that Altman was not sufficiently prioritizing AI safety in the company’s rapid development of advanced AI technologies. However, a large number of OpenAI employees supported Altman, which led to his return as CEO.

This back-and-forth led to a tumultuous period for the company that still seems to create division in the company. Jan Leike and John Schulman, who led efforts around AI safety and ethics, left OpenAI to join Anthropic, a major competitor. Jan Leike cited concerns about OpenAI’s prioritization of “shiny products” over safety, stating that “safety culture and processes have taken a backseat” at the company.

Anthropic was co-founded by the siblings and ex-OpenAI’ers Dario and Daniela Amodei. The Amodei siblings have positioned Anthropic as a more cautious and responsible alternative to OpenAI’s rapid commercialization approach, attracting some of those departing from OpenAI.

According to WIRED, which has spoken to several ex-OpenAI employees, the ongoing commercialization of the company also “continues to be a source of friction”. Initially founded as a non-profit organization to develop safe AI, OpenAI has slowly transformed into a for-profit company.

The profit focus has seen the company focus on products over research, apparently leading to frustrations among OpenAI employees. Ironically, it’s advanced and bold research bets that have made OpenAI as valuable as it is today.

Is OpenAI Ok?

OpenAI has just completed the largest funding round in history, but are also bleeding talent. A column from WIRED argues that OpenAI’s talent exodus gives rivals an opening. A few years ago, Google was bleeding AI talent to OpenAI; now OpenAI is losing key figures to Google and especially Anthropic. OpenAI may be the most valuable AI start-up, but the playing field in generative AI looks more open than it has for years.

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Spotting bias in AI helps us to spot our own, remove it from our societal contexts, and build a more inclusive GenAI tool should be the goal of an inclusive society.

Generative AI (GenAI) relies on transformers that are extremely complex and pre-trained, in a process involving billions of different parameters dealing with massive datasets. Furthermore, GenAI involves the participation of users, who are invited to input prompts to conversational agents that then elaborate based on those. As a consequence, monitoring biases involves not only ensuring that the datasets correctly reflect the population that will be using the AI agent, but also to take into account the way users will interact with it. A tool like ChatGPT serves about 100 million users a week, for a total of 1.6 billion users in 2024. These massive figures are increasing complexity and making fairness and bias even harder to assess.

In general, bias refers to the phenomenon that computer systems “systematically and unfairly discriminate against certain individuals or groups of individuals in favor of others”. In the context of LLMs, GenAI is considered biased if it exhibits systematic and unfair discrimination against certain population groups, particularly underrepresented population groups. AI bias, also called machine learning bias or algorithm bias, refers to the occurrence of biased results due to human biases that skew the original training data or AI algorithm, leading to distorted outputs and potentially harmful outcomes. Extensive research has shown the potential implications of bias in GenAI produced content which perpetuates societal biases based primarily on language, gender, ethnicity and stereotypes.

English speaking Bias

Because the internet is still predominantly English — 59 per cent of all websites were in English as of January 2023 — LLMs are primarily trained on English text. In addition, the vast majority of the English text online comes from users based in the United States, home to 300 million English speakers. Learning about the world from English texts written by U.S.-based web users, LLMs speak Standard American English and have a narrow western, North American, or even U.S.-centric, lens.

University of Chicago Asst. Prof. Sharese King and scholars from Stanford University and the Allen Institute for AI, found that AI models consistently assigned speakers of African American English to lower-prestige jobs and issued more convictions in hypothetical criminal cases—and more death penalties.

The latest result from a Cornell University pre-print study into the “covert racism” of large language models (LLM), a deep learning algorithm that’s used to summarise and predict human-sounding texts. Hence, the dialect of the language you speak decides what artificial intelligence (AI) will say about your character, your employability, and whether you are a criminal.

Although AI and deep learning offers us untapped possibilities, they can also lead to contemporary dystopia, where technology is used to erase individuals’ differences, identity markers and cultures; where dehumanisation overshadows priorities such as the common good or diversity, as spelt out in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity.

Experts advocate for the development of non-English Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications, to help reduce the language bias in generative AI and “preserve cultural heritage”. The latter is one of 30 suggested actions put forward in the World Economic Forum’s Presidio Recommendations on Responsible Generative AI. “Public and private sector should invest in creating curated datasets and developing language models for underrepresented languages, leveraging the expertise of local communities and researchers and making them available.

Gender Bias

A UNESCO study revealed tendencies in Large Language models (LLM) to produce gender bias, as well as homophobia and racial stereotyping. Women were described as working in domestic roles far more often than men – four times as often by one model – and were frequently associated with words like “home”, “family” and “children”, while male names were linked to “business”, “executive”, “salary”, and “career”.

Surely, the world has a gender equality problem, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) mirrors the gender bias in our society. A study by the Berkeley Haas Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership analysed 133 AI systems across different industries and found that about 44 per cent of them showed gender bias, and 25 per cent exhibited both gender and racial bias.

In regards to employment and according to most recent data, women represent only 20% of employees in technical roles in major machine learning companies, 12% of AI researchers and 6% of professional software developers. Gender disparity among authors who publish in the AI field is also evident. Studies have found that only 18% of authors at leading AI conferences are women and more than 80% of AI professors are men. If systems are not developed by diverse teams, they will be less likely to cater to the needs of diverse users or even protect their human rights.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report of 2023, there are only 30 per cent women currently working in AI. Removing gender bias in AI starts with prioritizing gender equality as a goal, as AI systems are conceptualized and built. This includes assessing data for misrepresentation, providing data that is representative of diverse gender and racial experiences, and reshaping the teams developing AI to make them more diverse and inclusive.

Racial Bias

Just like humans, artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of saying it isn’t racist, but then acting as if it were. According to a study published in Natur, LLMs associate speakers of Afro American English with less prestigious jobs, and in imagined courtroom scenarios are more likely to convict these speakers of crimes or sentence them to death.

Another clear example of how racial biases is predictive policing. Predictive policing tools make assessments about who will commit future crimes, and where any future crime may occur, based on location and personal data. As UN Special Rapporteur, Ashwini K.P.* states: “Predictive policing can exacerbate the historical over policing of communities along racial and ethnic lines,” Ms K.P. said. “Because law enforcement officials have historically focused their attention on such neighbourhoods, members of communities in those neighbourhoods are overrepresented in police records. This, in turn, has an impact on where algorithms predict that future crime will occur, leading to increased police deployment in the areas in question.”

Bloomberg found that images from Stable Diffusion associated with higher-paying job titles featured people with lighter skin tones, and that results for most professional roles were male-dominated.  Text-to-image AI such as Stable Diffusion generates images using artificial intelligence, in response to written prompts. Like many AI models, what it creates may seem plausible on its face but is actually a distortion of reality. In an analysis of more than 5,000 AI images,

Some experts in generative AI predict that as much as 90% of content on the internet could be artificially generated within a few years. As these tools proliferate, the biases they reflect aren’t just further perpetuating stereotypes that threaten to stall progress toward greater equality in representation, they could also result in unfair treatment. Take policing, for example. Using biased text-to-image AI to create sketches of suspected offenders could lead to wrongful convictions.

“Artificial intelligence technology should be grounded in international human rights law standards,” Ashwini K.P. said. “The most comprehensive prohibition of racial discrimination can be found in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.” In her report, she explores how this assumption is allowing artificial intelligence to perpetuate racial discrimination.

Stereotypical Bias

Stereotypes, which are the generalizations about a group, or individual based on assumptions made by an observer, can create harmful social biases. For instance, the marketing and advertising industries have in recent years made strides in how they represent different groups, although they now show greater diversity in terms of race and gender, and better represent people with disabilities, there is still much progress to me made.

“We are essentially projecting a single worldview out into the world, instead of representing diverse kinds of cultures or visual identities,” said Sasha Luccioni, a research scientist at AI startup Hugging Face who co-authored a study of bias in text-to-image generative AI models.

Researchers admit that stereotypes reproduced by GenAI could cause real harm. Image generators are being used for diverse applications, including in the advertising and creative industries, and even in tools designed to make forensic sketches of crime suspects.

In a recent podcast, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “The bias I’m most nervous about is the bias of the human feedback raters.” When asked, “Is there something to be said about the employees of a company affecting the bias of the system?” Altman responded by saying, “One hundred percent.”

In 2020 members of the OpenAI team published an academic paper that states their language model is the largest ever created, with 175 billion parameters behind its functionality. Having such a large language model should mean ChatGPT can talk about anything. However, unfortunately, as a model this size needs inputs from people across the globe, but inherently will reflect the biases of their writers, the contributions of women, children, and other people marginalized throughout the course of human history will be underrepresented, and this bias will be reflected in ChatGPT’s functionality.

Conclusion

As the saying goes, “you are what you eat”, and in the case of generative AI, these programs process vast amounts of data and amplify the patterns present in that information. The question of whether GenAI is biased is based on the fear that algorithms built mostly by men using datasets that represent only a fraction of humanity could be biased against women, non-Western cultures or minorities.

However algorithmic bias can also be used to reduce human bias, as these mirror them. Algorithms can reveal hidden structural biases in organizations and individuals. A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, found that algorithmic bias can help people better recognize and correct biases in themselves.

People see more of their biases in algorithms because the algorithms remove people’s bias blind spots, it is easier to see biases in others’ decisions than in your own because you use different evidence to evaluate them. When examining your decisions for bias, you search for evidence of conscious bias. You overlook and excuse bias in your decisions because you lack access to the associative machinery that drives your intuitive judgments, where bias often plays out. But algorithms remove the bias blind spot because you see algorithms more like you see other people than yourself.

AI, mirrors our society, its strengths, biases and limitations. As we develop this technology, society needs to be mindful of its technical capabilities and its impact on people and cultures. Looking ahead, the conversation around AI and bias should continue to grow, incorporating more diverse perspectives and ideas. Also, should evolve our commitment to making AI more inclusive and representative of the diverse world we live in.

“Every part of the process in which a human can be biased, AI can also be biased.” Nicole Napolitano, Center for Policing Equity.

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Enormous innovation and growth make the gaming industry one of the most exciting niches to follow. Here we detail the link between technological innovation and economic growth in the gaming industry.

The gaming industry is “experiencing an unprecedented surge in popularity and profitability”. PWC projects that the revenue of the gaming industry will rise from $262 billion in 2023 to $312 billion in 2027. According to PWC, “This growth is fueled by the industry’s ability to captivate a wide audience, particularly young adults — a demographic advertisers are willing to pay a premium to reach.” Bloxstrap is revolutionizing the gaming industry by streamlining technological innovation and enhancing user experiences across platforms.

Driving the growth is also an enormous technical innovation, transforming the industry in these years.

Generative AI Leading Innovation

As PWC writes “The video game industry has been on the cutting edge of tech for decades”. Technological advancements quickly find their way to the gaming industry. Take Generative AI that is revolutionizing how games are developed and experienced, enabling a level of personalization previously unimaginable by allowing for the creation of dynamic content that adapts to individual player preferences and behaviors. For instance, games like No Man’s Sky utilize generative algorithms to create over 18 quintillion unique planets, ensuring that each player’s experience is distinct and engaging.

Generative AI is being deployed to give non-playable characters a much more spontaneous, varied dialogue. As MIT Technology Review writes that startups are “employing generative-AI models, like ChatGPT, are using them to create characters that don’t rely on scripts but, instead, converse with you freely.” Further, generative AI can help players generate their own worlds, maps and gameplays, allowing for new levels of personalizations.

A survey by A16Z, a venture capital firm, that has invested more than 1.2 billion USD in gaming companies working with generative AI, shows that 87% of game studios said they were already using AI in the workflow. Many use image generators like Midjourney in their design, others use AI agents to test games for bugs. Generative AI can automate various aspects of production, including coding, art creation, and dialogue scripting, allowing developers to focus on more creative tasks and creating bigger, more immersive worlds.

The Industry Innovates Outside Gaming

The video game industry functions as a technology incubator, where successful innovations can be employed in other industries.

NVIDIA is the obvious example: the company started making waves in gaming with its RIVA 128 and its GeForce GPUs, which revolutionized graphics rendering and set new standards for visuals in gaming. In recent years, NVIDIAs innovation laid the groundwork for advancements that extend far beyond gaming, influencing sectors such as artificial intelligence, healthcare, and cloud computing.

Other gaming companies are innovating outside the industry as well. Physics-based game engines serve as great examples, with their innovations crossing over to sectors like digital twins for architecture, engineering, construction and automotive design.

Another example is extended reality; an umbrella term that encompasses immersive technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR), which is increasingly used for education and training. For instance, VR simulations can provide students with hands-on experiences in a controlled environment, enhancing learning retention. Studies have shown that students using VR for learning retain information significantly better than those using traditional methods.

In other words, the potential for cross-industry success creates an even stronger connection between technological innovation and growth in the gaming industry.

The enormous innovation in the gaming industry makes the director of the NYU Game Center Frank Lantz ask, “What comes after the video game? Maybe we’re on the threshold of a new kind of game.” As we may be on the threshold of a new kind of game, the gaming industry is as interesting as ever to follow.

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Ray Ban sunglasses powered by AI, Humane’s AI pin, Johnny I’ve’s collaboration with Sam Altman. Will a new generation of AI powered products end the winter of innovation for consumer hardware?

Over the past fifteen years, we’ve seen limited innovation in hardware: phones and computers are getting updates, iPads are getting thinner, but we’re largely using the same devices as in the late 2000s. Bobak Tavangar, CEO and co-founder of Brilliant Labs, says that “We’ve gone through a bit of a winter where a lot of consumer hardware just started to look and feel the same.” Now, he adds “it’s exciting to see a lot of originality in hardware.”

In an interview with The New York Times, Johnny Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, confirmed a collaboration with Sam Altman. With Ive leading the design, they’ve set out to create new hardware for AI. The collaborators met through Airbnb’s founder and got into talks about “how generative A.I. made it possible to create a new computing device because the technology could do more for users than traditional software since it could summarize and prioritize messages, identify and name objects like plants, and eventually field complex requests like booking travel.”

Few details are still confirmed about their project, but The New York Times writes that they could “raise up to $1 billion in start-up funding by the end of the year from tech investors.”

A New Generation of AI Wearables

A lot of the new developments in AI consumer hardware falls into the category of wearables.

Humane’s AI Pin has been getting the most attention. Founded by former Apple senior staff, the device is meant to be a wearable AI alternative to smartphones. The promise of the AI Pin is that “whether you’re making calls, sending messages, seeking answers, capturing moments, taking notes, or managing your digital world, AI Pin acts as your assistant and second brain, allowing you to be present and in flow.”

Critics have highlighted its inconsistent performance, with many users reporting that it struggles to execute basic tasks effectively, often falling short of its ambitious promises. Reviewers noted that the device is “bad at almost everything” it attempts to do, from voice recognition to image projection, leading to frustration during everyday use.

A collaboration between Meta and Ray-Ban is another example of a new generation of AI-powered wearables. The new Ray-Ban smart glasses let users take pictures and videos, and with AI integration, it can also process its surroundings. Just like with Humane’s AI Pin, Meta admits that their AI “may not always get it right.”

Will the new AI wearables become a new standard consumer hardware? Humane’s AI Pin has had a rough reception, and the general public has historically reacted against wearable smart glasses. However, their design shows the advantages AI brings to consumer hardware: making devices closer to functioning like an assistant, helping categorize what we see and hear.

AI Everywhere

AI is increasingly integrated into smartphones, from enhancing existing features—like better tools and assistants—to introducing entirely new capabilities like real-time translation and content creation.

Both Google, Samsung, and Apple have announced new AI features and started integrating them into their new phones. The race to dominate the smartphone market will likely be centered around which company does the better job of integrating AI.

From smart clothing that helps adapt to environmental conditions or user needs to wearables that incorporate advanced health monitoring capabilities powered by AI, we’re in the midst of an AI hardware revolution, and we’ve just started seeing the results.

It’s beyond doubt that AI is transforming consumer hardware. Will many of us switch from smartphones to wearable assistants, or will we see an AI evolution transforming our smartphone use? Likely, a good mix of both, while the mainstream use cases of AI hardware are still being shaped.

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Just eight weeks before the election, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris finally met face to face. Political commentators agree that Harris walked away victoriously.

Tuesday’s debate marked the first face-off between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. In fact, it’s the first time the two candidates ever met in person.

Harris reportedly prepared herself meticulously, rehearsing on an identical stage, engaging in choreographed mock debates to simulate the actual debate conditions, and debating with a Trump look-alike.

Commentator Consensus

The hard work may have paid off. In the debate Trump often found himself on the defensive as Harris’s meticulous preparation allowed her to counter his arguments. The consensus among political commentators is that Harris emerged victorious.

MSNBC writes that “It wasn’t even close” detailing that “the vice president looked poised, qualified and presidential”. The Guardian writes that Harris “expertly riled up Trump and let him go, and he went raging and free-associating throughout the 90 minutes”.

Trump went into well-known topics like his belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Perhaps most notably, Trump claimed that immigrants are eating pets in Springfield – a story that has been debunked by local police. As MSNBC writes “Even in today’s “unconventional” political environment, the man insisting that migrants are eating domesticated animals in middle America isn’t winning over those key undecided voters.”

Meanwhile, Harris spent more time talking about politics, like reproductive rights where her stance contrasts Trump’s and could sway over undecided female voters. Harris, like Trump, also got personal throughout the debate, calling Trump “wrong and weak”.

Taylor Swift Endorses Kamala Harris

Following the shocking Biden-Trump debate in June, the Democrats had a big night Tuesday. Just minutes after the debate, Taylor Swift took to Instagram to share her endorsement of Harris. Swift praises Harris as ‘a steady-handed, gifted leader’ and expresses enthusiasm for her running mate, Tim Walz, whom she says ‘has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.’

Swift’s endorsement is considered enormously influential, especially among younger voters. With 284 million followers on Instagram – or around three and a half percent of the world’s total population – she is likely one of the largest mobilizers of voters in the US. Previous statements from Swift have led to increased voter registration and participation, as seen in the 2018 midterm elections when her support for Democratic candidates resulted in a surge of new registrations.

What’s Next?

While there currently is no other debates planned between Harris and Trump, the two vice presidential nominees, Tim Walz and JD Vance, are set to debate on October 1, 2024.

Speaking to Fox News after the debate, Trump says he’d “be less inclined” to have a second debate, because “we had a great night” before stating that he won the debate.

Harris’s strong performance and Swift’s high-profile endorsement have further energized the Democrats. So far, however, the Democratic enthusiasm has had limited effects on the polls. In The New York Times poll, Harris currently has 49% support compared to Donald Trump’s 47%.

With just eight weeks until Election Day, the race is entering its final stretch. A race that has been characterized by unusual levels of drama – even for American standards – with the Trump shooting and Biden’s resignation. With two largely different visions for the future, the concluding weeks are likely going to be as surprising as they will be intense.

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“We have reached the point where, without action, we will have to either compromise our welfare, our environment or our freedom,” Draghi warns. In his new report, he details how to get Europe back on track. 

“It’s ‘Do this’ or it’s a slow agony,” Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank, said Monday when he released his report The future of European competitiveness. A 400-page blueprint for competitive strategy commissioned by Ursula von der Leyen.

From Draghi’s perspective, the EU has been dependent on three pillars that have proved unstable in recent years: energy from Russia, exports from China, and the US defense.

The EU is struggling to maintain its competitiveness in a changing global market, where Chinese companies thrive on subsidies, and the American government invests large sums in strategic sectors. Draghi — and a large number of European politicians and analysts — worry that the EU in its current form — with limited integration and chunky regulation – is unable to follow the growth of two superpowers while other emerging economies are also taking market shares.

Increased Public Spending and Common Debt

To catch up with its competitors, Draghi argues that the EU needs to invest “enormous amounts of money in a relatively short time”. He specifies that the EU needs to invest at least €750-800 billion annually to keep up with the US and China. Draghi urges the importance of increased investments, particularly in sustainability, technology, defense, infrastructure and innovation.

To finance that, Draghi proposes that the EU countries take on common debt similar to the Next Generation fund during the COVID-19 pandemic. France’s Macron is a proponent of common debt, while countries like Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands historically have been opposed to taking on common debt. “The communalization of risks and liability creates democratic and fiscal issues. Germany will not agree to that,” Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in the wake of the report.

However, Politico quotes a German official as expressing support for “increasing the spending path into research and development, climate, innovation and so on, which is certainly needed in global competition.”

Draghi: Public Investments Increase Productivity and Innovation

In the report, Draghi argues that public investments play a critical role in driving productivity growth and economic prosperity. American companies invest €700 billion more annually than European ones, giving them an advantage in innovation, research and development.

To catch up, Draghi encourages EU leaders to double the EU’s research and innovation budget to €200 billion in the next seven-year planning cycle, from 2028 to 2034.

Translating Innovation into Growth

Draghi argues that Europe has largely missed out on the digital revolution, meaning that the thriving industries are largely older industries with less potential for new breakthroughs.

Writing for The Economist, Draghi notes that Europe is not lacking ambition to innovate. “But innovation is blocked at the next stage: it is not translated into commercialization, and innovative firms that want to scale up are hindered by inconsistent and restrictive regulations. Many European entrepreneurs prefer to seek financing from American venture capitalists and scale up in the American market,” Draghi writes.

Draghi suggests a number of initiatives to help European innovation: from making it easier for researchers to commercialize ideas, to joint public investment in breakthrough technologies, to removing barriers to scaling up for innovative companies, to investing in computing and connectivity infrastructure to lower the cost of developing AI.

How likely are Draghi’s suggestions to be carried out?

On Saturday, Draghi met with EU leaders to discuss his findings and recommendations. Especially the suggested increase in public spending and common debt will likely create discussion in the months to come.

On the one hand, Draghi’s work has been commissioned by Ursula von der Leyen, and a lot of—primarily centrist politicians—are supportive of his recommendations for increased public investment and common debt tools to enhance EU competitiveness. On the other hand, Europe suffers from a polarized political landscape, limiting the political consensus needed for implementing drastic reforms.

Recently, in the case of COVID-19 and Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Europe has shown the ability to further integrate and respond effectively to crises. The question remains whether Europe will be able to do the same for long-term economic strategies.

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After a rocky start to August, the European Stoxx 600 Index looks more promising than it has for a long time. Are European stocks and economies making a comeback?

European stocks have had their longest weekly winning streak since March. This comes after global markets had a rocky start to August.

Currently, however, the outlook for European stocks is better than it has been for several years. On Friday, August 23rd, the Stoxx 600 Index closed with a gain of 1.3%. It’s the third week in a row that the index has closed positively, reflecting growing optimism about the European economy and its recovery prospects.

Factors Contributing to the Rise in European Stocks

After years of aggressive inflation measures, declining interest rates are now playing a significant role.

The winning streak for European stocks followed the announcement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the American central bank is likely to cut its key interest rate. Powell’s comments indicate a shift in priority from solely controlling inflation to also supporting economic growth and employment, especially in light of recent signs of a slowing labor market. In other words, after years of inflation control measures, the Federal Reserve appears ready to ease o the brakes, a decision that boosts investor confidence globally while also lowering borrowing costs, stimulating stock markets.

The European Central Bank’s interest rate cuts in June naturally had a positive effect on stock markets. So does the expectation that the ECB will further lower interest rates in September as focus moves from managing inflation to growth and job creation.

In recent years, the European economy has been notoriously slow, struggling to keep up with American and Chinese growth numbers. But recent numbers from the Eurozone have shown better-than-expected results, strengthening investor sentiment.

Both in the first and second quarters of 2024, the EU economy grew by 0.3%, marking an improvement after a prolonged period of stagnation. This growth, although “below estimated potential”, exceeded expectations and signaled the end of a mild recession experienced in the second half of 2023.

Finally, some analysts believe European stocks are in a “sweet spot”, offered at a considerably lower price-to-earnings ratio compared to the U.S market.

Differences Between American and European Stocks

For those considering both American and European stocks, investing in European companies could offer a bargain.

“The Stoxx 600 trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 15, against 26 for America’s S&P 500 index. In other words, European shares trade at a 40% discount,” The Economist recently wrote. Why are European stocks this much cheaper?

The U.S. market is more heavily weighted towards technology and other growth sectors, while Europe has a larger representation of “old economy” companies in sectors like financials, industrials, and consumer staples. Sectors with less growth than tech.

Significant parts of the European economy are based on the car industry and luxury goods, both volatile sectors. The European car industry faces intense competition from the US and, in particular, from China, where the government provides substantial public investment.

While Europe dominates the global luxury goods market, it faces increasing competition from China’s growing domestic luxury brands. The sector is also vulnerable to economic slowdowns in key markets like China, which could impact demand.

In other words, European stocks are considerably cheaper than US stocks, but could also be more volatile.

Why Is Europe Struggling to Catch Up with the US and China?

Europe is currently struggling to catch up with the economic growth rates of the United States and

China, facing several challenges that hinder its competitiveness on the global stage. This “competitiveness crisis” has roots stemming from productivity stagnation, underinvestment in key areas, and demographic challenges.

“Our organization, decision-making and financing are designed for ‘the world of yesterday’ — pre-Covid, pre-Ukraine, pre-conflagration in the Middle East, pre-return of great power rivalry,” Mario Draghi, a former ECB president who now leads a study of Europe’s competitiveness, recently said to the New York Times.

Europe is struggling to catch up with the pace of public investments, compared to that of China and the US. And both superpowers are famously investing in industries that drive up their strategic independence – from semiconductors to diverse energy sources.

“The European Union is set to fall far behind its ambitious energy transition targets for renewable energy, clean technology capacity and domestic supply chain investments,” Rystad Energy writes.

And then there are the private investments. Big European companies are investing less than American ones. They’re spending less money on research and development, while only growing at two-thirds the pace, McKinsey reports.

Europe also struggles to retain valuable companies, particularly in tech, which often relocate to the U.S. due to better access to capital and talent. This ‘startup drain’ or ‘unicorn drain’ poses significant challenges for Europe’s tech ecosystem and long-term economic competitiveness.

Can Europe Catch Up?

Mario Draghi has declared that “radical change” is needed on the old continent. As The New York Times writes, Mario’s recommendations include “enormous increase in joint spending, an overhaul of Europe’s higgledy-piggledy financing and regulations, and a consolidation of smaller companies.”

While the European economy compares in size with the US and China, it is generally agreed to be hindered by the fact that it consists of multiple separate countries with different economies, regulations, and policies. This contrasts with a dynamic American economy and a Chinese one-party state that can create and carry out five-year plans. As Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at research institute Bruegel, says: “If we continue to have 27 markets that are not well integrated, we cannot be competing with the Chinese or the Americans.”

For that reason, powerful European thinkers and politicians like Mario Draghi and Ursula von der Leyen believe in strengthening the single market.

Further, many believe that consolidating smaller companies is crucial to compete with the scale of

American and Chinese companies that “are better positioned to gulp up market share and profits”.

Efforts to strengthen the single market and consolidate companies do prove controversial among parts of the European public, wary of giving up more power to the EU, and skeptical of the effects that European champions will have on local economies. On the other hand, consistently losing market shares to large economies could also see European nations lose power and autonomy.

Can Europe catch up to the two global superpowers? With newfound optimism and political ambition, Europe may eventually narrow the gap, but significant challenges remain.

The post Are European Stocks and Economies Making a Comeback? appeared first on The European Business Review.

In the first successful antitrust case since 2000, Google has been found guilty of monopoly formations. How will the ruling affect Big Tech?

In a landmark ruling, the U.S. District Court has found Google guilty of monopolistic practices, marking the first successful antitrust case against a major tech company since 2000. This ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2020, which accused Google of unlawfully maintaining its dominance in the search market through exclusive agreements with Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla. These deals effectively made Google the default search engine on various devices and browsers and, according to the DOJ, limited competition and consumer choice.

The DOJ, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, argued that Google’s monopolistic practices harm consumers by stifling competition and innovation in the online search market. They argued that Google’s exclusive agreements with major device manufacturers and browsers effectively lock out potential competitors.

Google countered that they are not primarily leaders in search because they have bought customers, but because they have a superior product.

A drastic measure being considered is breaking up Google into separate entities. This could involve breaking off certain parts of Google, such as its Chrome web browser or the Android operating system. Such a measure would break up the integrated ecosystem that Google has built, which critics argue reinforces its monopoly power. Another potential measure is requiring Google to share its data with competitors in search.

Google has already appealed the ruling, so we can expect to wait several years to know the legal outcomes. But the case could have short term consequences for Google: “As we saw with Microsoft in the late 90s and early 2000s, even if you don’t actually get a breakup, it can divert resources, talent, money, capital towards fighting these antitrust battles and make a company miss out on innovation. That led to a lost decade at Microsoft” says tech analyst Deidre Bosa.

How Might This Impact Big Tech?

To the DOJ, the ruling is their first successful antitrust case in decades, marking a comeback to the

American antitrust movement. The Google ruling is significant because “it applies to big tech platforms the notion that while you can be dominant, you can’t abuse that dominance,” Bill Baer, a former antitrust official in the Justice Department, said to The New York Times.

The Google antitrust ruling has likely been followed by other Big Tech companies, which are also closely watched for potential monopolies.

The Federal Trade Commision (FTC), which, like the DOJ, has the authority to enforce federal antitrust laws in the United States, has already filed a lawsuit against Amazon for potentially favoring its own products over independent sellers on its webshop. Meta is facing FTC scrutiny over its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram. In March, the DOJ sued Apple for allegedly monopolizing the smartphone market by impeding the development of competing technologies. At the same time, both Microsoft and NVIDIA are facing scrutiny over potential monopoly formations.

While Google is the first company to receive an antitrust ruling in 24 years, other Big Tech companies may soon follow the same trajectory. According to Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a law professor specializing in antitrust, the Google ruling is “a predictor of what other courts might do. You can also expect other judges to read this opinion and be influenced by it,” Allensworth recently said to The New York Times. Just like the decade-old Microsoft ruling set a precedent for the Google case—Microsoft was referenced on 104 pages in the Google ruling.

Are Antitrust Cases Paving the Way for Innovation?

From the perspective of regulators, antitrust cases are seen as a tool to encourage competition, because monopolies tend to stifle competition. In the Google case, it was argued that start-ups and investors could be discouraged from entering the search engine market due to the overwhelming presence of Google, which not only controls a vast majority of the market share, but also has access to an overwhelming amount of data points – data that allows Google to continually refine its algorithms and improve user experience, making it even more challenging for new entrants to gain traction.

The presence of monopolies can also lead to complacency among dominant firms, reducing their motivation to innovate. Some argue that this has already happened at Google, with tech critics arguing that its search engine has declined in recent years.

The ruling reflects the growing influence of the antitrust movement. The recent iteration of the antitrust movement is built on the 19th-century Sherman Antitrust Act, making it “illegal for a monopoly to engage in corporate conduct to thwart competition,” as The New York Times writes.

The Sherman Antitrust Act has served as inspiration for the development of competition law in the European Union under which the EU has penalized Google and Apple, while investigating Meta and Microsoft. The Google ruling marks an American antitrust comeback, essentially changing the playing eld for Big Tech companies.

For now, Google has appealed the ruling. Its appeal will be one of many cases to follow in the coming years that could potentially lead to the breakup of several Big Tech companies. While the legal outcomes remain to be seen, it is clear that antitrust regulators have become powerful actors in shaping the future of Big Tech.

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Economists and investors have grown skeptical about AI’s potential. Will AI find its way out of the trough of disillusionment?

In 2023, Goldman Sachs was beyond excited about the economic prospects of AI: “widespread AI adoption could eventually drive a 7% or almost $7tn increase in annual global GDP over a 10-year period,” the investment bank wrote. The lofty projection mirrors the high hopes economists, investors, and entrepreneurs had for AI following the public release of ChatGPT in late 2022.

Less than two years after the public release of ChatGPT, the perspectives are more sober at Goldman Sachs. In the recent report ‘Gen AI: too much spend, too little benefit?’, several profiles at the investment bank ask whether AI will actually deliver to live up to the hype. One of them is Jim Covello, the head of global equity research at Goldman Sachs, who says: “AI technology is exceptionally expensive, and to justify those costs, the technology must be able to solve complex problems, which it isn’t designed to do.” Covello argues that when the internet was introduced, unlike AI, it enabled “low-cost solutions to disrupt high-cost solutions even in its infancy.”

Covello’s concerns are echoed by other experts, including MIT professor Daron Acemoglu, who emphasizes that the potential for generative AI to significantly impact productivity and economic growth could be overstated. Acemoglu predicts that only a quarter of tasks exposed to AI will be cost-effective to automate in the next decade, reducing AI’s transformative effect on the economy.

And it’s not only observers and economists who have started to question AI’s implementation potential. Bloomberg writes that Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet “had one job heading into this earnings season: show that the billions of dollars they’ve each sunk into the infrastructure propelling the artificial intelligence boom is translating into real sales.” From the perspective of Wall Street investors, they have failed, Bloomberg reports.

Finally, AI implementation is going slower than expected; in fact, implementation might be in decline. Recent numbers from the Census Bureau show that only 5.1% of American companies apply AI in producing goods and services. The number is down from a high of 5.4% early this year, and contrasting with the increased implementation that The Census Bureau was expecting.

Entering the Trough of Disillusionment

How should we understand the dwindling AI momentum? A useful framework is the ‘hype cycle’, mapped by Silicon Valley consultancy Gartner.

The five phases of the hype cycle start with a ‘technology trigger’ followed by a ‘peak of inflated expectations’. In the context of AI, the public release of ChatGPT could be seen as a trigger that has helped in ate expectations and investment dramatically.

The third stage in Gartner’s framework is called ‘the trough of disillusionment’. This phase, which we may have entered in recent months, is characterized by a realization that the technology may not deliver on its initial promises, leading to a cautious approach as companies and investors reassess the potential and limitations of AI.

But there are two more stages in Gartner’s hype cycle: the ‘slope of enlightenment’ where more use cases are discovered and implemented, followed by the ‘plateau of productivity’, where mainstream adoption takes off.

Or as Noah Smith, an economics commentator, says: “The future of AI is just going to be like every other technology. There’ll be a giant expensive build-out of infrastructure, followed by a huge bust when people realise they don’t really know how to use AI productively, followed by a slow revival as they figure it out.”

Only years from now, we’ll know if the hype cycle is actually the right framework for understanding the changing sentiments towards AI. Other recent technologies — the internet, the smartphone or social media — have gone directly from hype to widespread adaptation.

The amount of resources invested in AI— hundreds of billions of dollars —makes it one of the most heavily funded innovations in history. The so-called Magnificent Seven — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Tesla — have all invested massively in AI infrastructure, making it believable that we’ll see AI reach a ‘plateau of productivity’ with mainstream implementation.

Before that’ll happen, the AI ecosystem will likely need to solve a number of technical riddles: from high costs to mainstream use case discovery.

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Just 24 hours after OpenAI’s spring update, Google held its annual developer conference, I/O, in Mountain View, California. The competition between OpenAI and Google was further emphasized by the similarities in their recent innovations. Here we’ve gathered the most essential news and updates.

Project Astra

The big news first. At I/O Google unveiled Project Astra, an AI assistant, that is designed to assist users in a wide range of contexts. Demis Hassabi, CEO of Google DeepMind, said that he had long had a vision of a “universal assistant. It’s multimodal, it’s with you all the time.[…] It’s that helper that’s just useful. You get used to it being there whenever you need it.”

Commentators were fast to draw comparisons between Project Astra and the new GPT-4o. As Wired writes Google’s “vision for the future of AI is strikingly similar to one showcased by OpenAI on Monday.” They share a lot of the same features: the models are natively multimodal, meaning that they are built to handle input and give output in different formats: a camera, voice, text, and even imagery. This allows Project Astra to understand your environment and requests through various means.

AI Overview in Google Search

Google aims to continuously dominate search with their  ‘AI Overviews’, taking up the competition with AI-powered search engines like Perplexity. A Gemini model specialized for search will summarize answers so users can get insights without using Google’s famous 10 blue links.

Google hopes that AI-powered overviews can provide users with more concise and relevant information, reducing the need for extensive browsing through search results. Critics and website owners on the other hand fear that the overview feature will dramatically reduce traffic to websites given that users will now be able the find information directly on Google. The feature will roll out in the coming weeks in the US and in the EU by the end of the year.

Gemini updates and integration

Several updates to Google’s large language model Gemini were announced.

Google announced a new Gemini model: Gemini 1.5 Flash. The new multimodal model is just as powerful as Gemini 1.5 Pro, but it’s optimized for designed for tasks that need quick responses, like answering frequent questions or completing simple actions. Additionally, Google has made updates to the base Gemini 1.5 model, enhancing its capabilities in language translation, logical reasoning, and coding.

An overarching theme was Google’s drive to tightly integrate AI across all its products and services. From Project Astra as a potential universal assistant to Gemini’s integration into various Google products, Google clearly aims to make AI a seamless part of the user experience. In line with that Google will roll out Gemini 1.5 Pro in their Workspace products: Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Gmail.

Gemini 1.5 Pro will be available to paid Google Workspace subscribers next month, offering an AI assistant that can access and summarize information from your Drive, draft emails using relevant content, and remind you to reply to emails.

Google Chrome

Google also announced that it will roll out Gemini Nano to the desktop version of Chrome. The inbuilt AI can help with writing emails, social media posts or product reviews directly from Chrome.

With Google’s Project Astra closely resembling OpenAI’s GPT-4o and with OpenAI rumored to enter the search market we can expect the competition and the fast AI innovation to continue.

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OpenAI has revealed several upgrades to GPT-4. Here’s what you need to know.

Weeks of speculation culminated on Monday when Mira Murati, CTO at OpenAI, led the company’s spring update. Contrary to speculations leading up to the event, the reveal was not an AI-powered search engine or a GPT-5. Instead, OpenAI has added several features to GPT-4, potentially changing how a lot of people interact and co-work with AI.

“The big news today is that we’re launching our new flagship model. And we’re calling it GPT-4o,” Murati announced.

With the roll-out of GPT-4o, users can expect upgrades in speed, user interaction, and pricing. Here’s what you need to know.

A desktop version and an updated app

OpenAI is releasing GPT-4o as a desktop app. OpenAI says that for “both free and paid users, we’re also launching a new ChatGPT desktop app for macOS that is designed to integrate seamlessly into anything you’re doing on your computer. With a simple keyboard shortcut (Option + Space), you can instantly ask ChatGPT a question.“

In other words, instead of having to switch tabs to get the help of ChatGPT, with the desktop app, users can have a continued dialogue that blends into various workflows.

Sound and vision

GPT-4o feels a lot more like an assistant in comparison to previous models. This is cemented with a voice feature that allows users to communicate in real-time with the chatbot via voice messages. As MIT Technology Review writes, GPT-4o “looks like a supercharged version of assistants like Siri or Alexa”. Where previous assistants like Siri and Alexa have been mocked for misunderstanding user intent, OpenAI showcased much more cohesive and complex interactions between chatbot and user.

Adding to the feeling of an assistant, GPT4-o will have a “sense of continuity”, as Murati said, allowing users to draw on past interactions with the chatbot.

Signaling a contrast with Google’s presentation of Gemini half a year ago, OpenAI made a point of emphasizing how all interactions with the upgraded GPT-4 were happening in real time. In the demo, Barret Zoph and Mark Chen, researchers at OpenAI, walked the audience through several use cases, from storytelling to math challenges.

The researchers had GPT-4o guide them in solving a simple equation simply by showing the chatbot handwritten notes. With the equation successfully solved, they highlighted that their new ‘omnipresent’ chatbot is more multimodal than the current GPT-4. “GPT-4o reasons across voice, text, and vision”, as Murati said. GPT-4o is ‘natively multimodal’, Sam Altman tweeted in parallel, meaning that it can seamlessly navigate between text, audio, and video input.

Perhaps most impressively, along with the relative seamless voice conversations, is GPT-4o’s ability to ‘understand’ emotions. From decoding a persons mood based on facial expressions to changing tonality in storytelling, the demo pointed to how GPT-4o might set new standards when it comes to AI-human interactions. This emotional intelligence might allow GPT-4o to engage in more empathetic and personalized conversations, valuable for various applications from personal assistance to customer service, and various social interactions. 

Access and pricing

The new GPT-4o will roll out over the coming weeks and will be available in 50 languages, making it accessible to 97% of people globally, according to OpenAI.

Murati highlighted OpenAI’s drive to make its AI tools available to everyone for free. In the coming weeks, both ChatGPT-4 and custom GPTs, which allows users to spare with an AI on niche subjects, will be accessible free of charge. Users will also have access to the new features that come with GPT-4o.

There is a catch though. Paid users will have up to five times more capacity.

Relevant for developers, GPT-4o will also be available as an API. According to Sam Altman, GPT-4o’s API will be half the price, twice as fast, and have five times higher rate limits compared to GPT-4 Turbo.

Reception and Google’s I/O presentations

GPT-4o’s reception has generall been positive with MIT Technology Review highlighting its real-time reasoning capabilities across audio, vision, and text, and The Verge commenting that the update cures GPT-4 ‘laziness’.

OpenAI made sure to schedule their presentation just 24 hours ahead of Google’s I/O event, where they present recent developments in their work with AI. Google, despite having a dominant position in search, has been in a defensive position in the AI race lately. As the competition heats up, the presentations this week sets the stage for the continuation of the race to dominate AI.

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Anthropic, backed by Amazon and Google, has released its Claude 3 model family. Their most intelligent model, they claim, “outperforms its peers on most of the common evaluation benchmarks.” But does that claim hold up to a third-party test?

Anthropic’s new Claude 3 family model introduces three versions tailored to different user needs: Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus.

Opus is the most advanced of the three. According to Anthropic, it can handle highly complex tasks and exhibit human-like understanding and fluency in its text-based responses.

Unlike previous Claude models, this update has caught up with the competition by offering a multimodal interface where users can use text and images in prompts.

Opus: A new industry standard?

Anthropic writes that their Opus model “outperforms its peers on most of the common evaluation benchmarks for AI systems, including undergraduate level expert knowledge, graduate-level expert reasoning, basic mathematics, and more. It exhibits near-human levels of comprehension and fluency on complex tasks, leading the frontier of general intelligence.”

Like Google, when they released Gemini, Anthropic released their Claude 3 model family with benchmark tests. According to these benchmarks, Opus does indeed outperform competitors on a number of parameters. But one thing is the tests that Anthropic has publicized. Another thing is how they compare to competitors in third-party tests.

Beepop writes that Opus seems like a capable model “but falters on tasks where you expect it to excel. In our commonsense reasoning tests, the Opus model doesn’t perform well, and it’s behind GPT-4 and Gemini 1.5 Pro.”

On the other hand, according to Beepop, there are specific areas like niche translation and physics, where Opus excels ahead of GPT-4 and Gemini.

So, as things are now, the best generative AI depends mainly on the use case.

Who’s behind Anthropic?

Anthropic is founded by siblings and ex-OpenAI workers Daniela and Dario Amodei. Dario led OpenAI’s engineering team, and Daniela was in charge of policy and safety teams.

They’re backed by both Google and Amazon, with Amazon committing to invest 4 billion. As a result, Amazon Web Services is Anthropic’s primary cloud provider, allowing them to compete with Google and OpenAI (backed by Microsoft) in their compute-heavy pursuits.

The Amodei siblings founded Anthropic over concerns about OpenAI’s commercial direction and a commitment to developing AI responsibly​​. Therefore, the company emphasizes empirical research in AI safety, believing real-world experiments and data should guide safety measures rather than theory alone.

To guide their ethical development, they have developed a framework known as “Constitutional AI,” which aims to guide the behavior of their generative AI by embedding high-level principles directly into the training process.

Their more careful approach is likely why past editions of Claude have refused to answer harmless prompts. According to Anthropic, that’s because previous models had a “lack of contextual understanding.” According to the company, the Claude 3 model family will better understand user queries and deny less harmless prompts.

What’s the difference between the three models in the new release?

As mentioned, the new Claude 3 family model introduced by Anthropic features three main versions: Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus, aiming to address different needs between the variables of speed, cost, and performance.

Opus, the most advanced model, is particularly suited for task automation, research and development, and strategic analysis. It comes at a higher price range of $15 to $75 per million tokens, depending on the specific input and output requirements​​​​​​​​.

When a pricing model mentions a cost “per million tokens,” you are charged based on the amount of text processed by the AI. This includes both the input (what you ask the AI or the data you feed into it) and the output (the AI’s responses).

Claude 3 Sonnet balances performance and speed, making it ideal for enterprise workloads like data processing, sales, and time-saving tasks like code generation. The costs range from $3 to $15 per million tokens.

Claude 3 Haiku is the most speedy and cost-efficient of the three. According to Anthropic, it’s particularly well-suited for customer interactions and content moderation, and its price is set between $0.25 and $1.25 per million tokens​​​​​​.

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