Tech Leaders Can Do More to Avoid Unintended Consequences

Ten years ago, in a small hotel room in Helsinki, Finland, a young tech entrepreneur sat down with a pen and paper and calculated that one of his inventions was responsible for wasting the equivalent of more than a million human lifetimes every day. The realization made him feel sick. That entrepreneur’s name is Aza Raskin, and he’s the inventor of the “infinite scroll,” the feature on our phone that keeps us endlessly scrolling through content with the simple swipe of a finger. READ MORE

Code-Writing AI Points to the Future of Computers

Microsoft just showed how artificial intelligence could find its way into many software applications—by writing code on the fly.

At the Microsoft Build developer conference today, the company’s chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, demonstrated an AI helper for the game Minecraft. The non-player character within the game is powered by the same machine learning technology Microsoft has been testing for auto-generating software code. The feat hints at how recent advances in AI could change personal computing in years to come by replacing interfaces that you tap, type, and click to navigate into interfaces that you simply have a conversation with. READ MORE

Musk, Twitter 'fireworks' could come at annual shareholder meeting

One Wall Street analyst is expecting "fireworks" between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter's board at the social media giant's upcoming annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday.

"Twitter will be holding its annual shareholder meeting this Wednesday and will surely kick off some more fireworks between Musk and the Twitter Board," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients on Monday evening. "The elephant in the room at the Twitter shareholder meeting will clearly be the Musk $44 billion deal price for the company with shareholders encouraged by the Board to vote in favor of this inked deal." READ MORE

US growth seen outpacing China’s for first time since 1976

China’s coronavirus lockdowns mean its economic growth may undershoot the US for the first time since 1976, in a role reversal with potential political reverberations in both Beijing and Washington.

The world’s second-largest economy will grow just 2% this year, Bloomberg Economics wrote in a report Thursday. By comparison, US gross domestic product will increase 2.8% this year, Bloomberg Economics predicts. READ MORE

Majority of CEOs preparing for a recession as sky-high inflation persists

The economic outlook is rapidly darkening in corporate America. 

More than two-thirds of CEOs – 68% – believe that the Federal Reserve's war on red-hot inflation could tip the economy into a recession over the next few years, according to a new survey from the Conference Board. While a majority of executives believe the downturn will be relatively mild, 11% are worried that aggressive tightening by the U.S. central bank could trigger a deep, "challenging" recession.  READ MORE

Chicken wings for $34?

With a gallon of milk up about 25% since before the pandemic, and retail bacon 35% higher, it’s hard to imagine how US food inflation could get any worse. But evidence suggests that even higher prices are on the horizon.

Consumers have actually been shielded so far from the full brunt of soaring expenses that are facing producers, distributors and small businesses like restaurants. But they can only hold back for so much longer. READ MORE

At Wells Fargo, a Quest to Increase Diversity Leads to Fake Job Interviews

Joe Bruno, a former executive in the wealth management division of Wells Fargo, had long been troubled by the way his unit handled certain job interviews.

For many open positions, employees would interview a “diverse” candidate — the bank’s term for a woman or person of color — in keeping with the bank’s yearslong informal policy. But Bruno noticed that often, the so-called diverse candidate would be interviewed for a job that had already been promised to someone else. READ MORE

Doubt about spam accounts could scuttle Twitter deal

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says his deal to buy Twitter can’t move forward unless the company shows public proof that less than 5% of the accounts on the social media platform are fake or spam.

Musk made the comment in a reply to another user on Twitter early Tuesday. He spent much of the previous day in a back-and-forth with Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who posted a series of tweets explaining his company’s effort to fight bots and how it has consistently estimated that less than 5% of Twitter accounts are fake. READ MORE

These 'boomerang' employees went back to their old jobs. They tell us why

With the job market still going strong, millions of workers have switched jobs in the past year.

In March, a record 4.5 million people quit their jobs, according to the Labor Department, many of whom left to seek higher pay, better benefits and flexibility or new career opportunities.

But sometimes new roles don't pan out as expected, and some workers end up returning to the job they left. READ MORE

Five Key Principles To Follow When Presenting to a Board

Just when I was getting ready to present a key proposal at a major board meeting, a colleague who was the CFO (now a CEO) reminded me, “there is no such thing as a good board meeting—just one where nobody gets fired.”

That’s not far from the truth. I’ve seen too many self-inflicted career wounds in front of a board. I’ve seen executives go into board meetings full of confidence and come out crushed. I’ve witnessed senior leaders do such a lousy job presenting to a board that it damaged or destroyed their careers. READ MORE

As More States Legalize Marijuana, Where Should Employers Stand with Drug Testing?

Ten years ago, Washington and Colorado became the first U.S. states to legalize the recreational use and sale of marijuana. Since then, almost 20 states have done the same, and last month, New Jersey became the latest one to join the list. 

As reported by the New York Times, at least a half-dozen medical marijuana dispensaries opened their doors to all adults on April 21, after winning final approval from New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission. READ MORE