Author: Frank Salvato
Younger workers, especially those from Generation Z, are increasingly skipping meetings altogether and relying on artificial intelligence to take notes for them—a shift that’s yielding real career benefits but also stirring concerns among employers and workplace ethicists. A recent study found that 19% of workers say they now regularly use AI tools to take meeting notes, and hybrid workers are much more likely to adopt these tools (26%) than in-person employees (13%). According to the research, users of these tools save over an hour per week, report fewer manual note-taking burdens, and enjoy improved accuracy—but they also admit to skipping…
The video-platform giant YouTube announced that between July 2024 and June 2025 it paid out over USD 8 billion to the global music industry — including artists, songwriters, labels and publishers — marking a significant increase from prior periods and signalling the continued strength of its combined ad and subscription business model. According to YouTube’s official blog, this payout reflects the platform’s “twin engine of ads and subscriptions” firing on all cylinders. A trade-publication report confirms that this figure has risen by roughly USD 2 billion since the platform last disclosed similar data, and observers suggest it places YouTube increasingly…
The platform YouTube has rolled out a new built-in feature allowing mobile users to set a daily time limit on its short-form video feed, YouTube Shorts. Once a viewer hits the threshold they set, the Shorts feed will pause and display a dismissible notification, essentially telling the user they’ve reached their limit for the day. According to reports, this timer setting is accessible in the app’s settings under “Shorts feed limit” and is now beginning to appear for users, with parental controls — including non-dismissible prompts for supervised kids and teens — expected later this year. While touted as a…
The video-platform giant YouTube, a unit of Alphabet Inc., has introduced a voluntary exit program for its U.S.‐based employees, offering severance pay to those who opt to leave amid a wider reorganization aimed at accelerating its shift into artificial intelligence. In a memo to staff dated October 29, 2025, CEO Neal Mohan explained that YouTube will be restructured into three product divisions—viewer products, creator & community products, and subscriptions products—with the voluntary program giving employees the opportunity to depart without being subject to involuntary layoffs. The move comes as YouTube (and its parent company) face mounting regulatory scrutiny, competitive pressures…
YouTube has announced it will stop providing its music streaming data to Billboard’s U.S. music charts beginning January 16, 2026, after a decade-long partnership, citing deep disagreements over how Billboard’s chart formulas weight paid/subscription streams significantly more than ad-supported ones—a system YouTube claims undervalues fan engagement on its platform and fails to reflect how people actually consume music; YouTube argues every stream should count equally, but Billboard maintains its updated methodology reflects revenue trends and evolving listening habits, leaving the music industry to grapple with the potential impact on chart rankings, artist visibility, and platform priorities. Sources: Variety, Android Central…
YouTube is rolling out a re-test of built-in direct messaging, allowing users to share videos and chat within the app — initially only in Ireland and Poland for users 18 and older. The company removed the feature in 2019 and now says this revival is a “top feature request.” The experiment requires users to send and accept invites, and conversations are subject to the same Community Guidelines that apply to videos and comments. Sources: 9to5 Google, Android Authority Key Takeaways – The move signals YouTube’s shift toward more in-app social interaction and content sharing, rather than reliance solely on external messaging…
YouTube is beginning the rollout in the United States of a new artificial-intelligence system designed to estimate whether users are under 18 years old — regardless of the age they input when creating their account. The platform will analyze factors such as the user’s watch history, search queries, and the age of their account to flag those likely to be minors. If flagged as under-18, the user will be subject to enhanced protections including disabling of personalized ads, activation of digital-wellbeing tools (like screen-time reminders), and stricter content recommendations. Users who believe they have been misidentified may appeal by uploading…