Greetings from Plugged In, Fast Company’s weekly tech update from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to you—or you’re reading it on FastCompany.com—you can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Wednesday morning. Write to me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com.
In case you haven’t seen them yet, four Fast Company tech stories worth your time:
Within the next few decades, perhaps sooner, quantum computers will revolutionize the computing landscape by being able to carry out tasks thousands or even millions of times faster than today’s most powerful supercomputers. When that happens, a quantum computer of the future will easily be able to crack today’s end-to-end encryption technologies, leaving our messages in secure messaging apps like Apple’s iMessage, WhatsApp, and Signal vulnerable to malevolent nation stat
You’ve probably already noticed your search engines are starting to evolve. Google and Bing have already added both AI-generated results and conversational chatbots to their respective search engines. The Browser Company, a startup that made a big early splash thanks to its mission statement of building a better internet browser, has launched an AI summary search. And OpenAI is reportedly building its own search engine to compete directly with Google. Even Reddit, one of the last oases
It’s been a brutal two years for employees in the tech sector, which has shed more than 450,000 jobs—including 38,000 layoffs at nearly 150 companies in the first six weeks of 2024 alone.
It’s no surprise that automation is the biggest driver of job cuts, and McKinsey estimates that AI could replace 12 million more workers by 2030. But if every crisis presents an opportunity, this may be the perfect time for newly displaced tec
The takedown of the world’s largest ransomware gang, the Russian-based LockBit, by the FBI, Europol, and the U.K.’s National Crime Agency, today was a major moment in law enforcement’s fight against cybercrime.
By some estimates, LockBit, which until its takedown by authorities ran a ransomware-as-a-service offering, is responsible for around 25% of all ransomware out there on the internet. “It is a significant success for the law enforcement agencies,&#x
For over a decade, the home remedy for people who drop their iPhone in the sink, a puddle, or, ahem, the toilet has been the same: Dry it off and stick it in dry rice as quickly as you can. Now, Apple is finally weighing in on that fix—and warning people it could do more harm than good.
“Don’t put your iPhone in a bag of rice,” the company said in a recent support post. “Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone.”
Walmart is opening a new front in its fight against Amazon: The retailer announced Tuesday morning that it has struck a deal to acquire budget TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion in cash. The transaction, provided it is approved by regulators, will give Walmart a foothold in the burgeoning smart-TV advertising business, allowing it to more directly compete with the likes of Amazon, Roku, and Google. It will also be a test for Walmart’s ability to meaningfully expand into services, and revi
Fresh U.S. intelligence circulating in Congress reportedly indicates that Russia is developing an anti-satellite weapon in space with a nuclear component.
News reports speculating about what the weapon could be abounded after Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, released a cryptic but alarming statement on Feb. 14, 2024, regarding the information, which he framed as a “serious national security threat.” Some sources suggested a nuclear weap
Today’s business landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by data and emerging technologies. Innovation—a word used perhaps too freely—is at the center of it all. While it’s simple to say you keep innovation at the forefront, it seems the larger an organization becomes, the more difficult it is to artfully innovate. This is because creating and sustaining a culture that drives innovation can be challenging. Certain organizational structures can slow down the exchange
Expecting parents are a retailer and marketer’s dream. There are few periods of time where customers might deviate from their ingrained habits and purchasing behaviors and try something new. One of those times is when they have a child. In 2012 journalist Charles Duhigg wrote that, to take advantage of their shifting mindset, retailers like Target are looking to identify expecting parents as early as possible and earn their trust and brand loyalty.
“[A]mong life events