One of the things that I'm hoping to do a better job on is getting people from the private sector-who've been in the private sector their whole career-who also spend a couple years in government at some point in their career, and learn something.
The first time antiimmigration legislation was approved was likely in 1879, in a country where antiimmigrant sentiment tinged with racism had always lurked beneath the surface, despite the wellknown fact that foreign labor was essential to its development. That country was the United States, whose Congress and a Republican president named Chester A. Arthur enacted, in 1882, the socalled Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited the arrival of Chinese workers for at least 10 years.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took the unprecedented step of designating a U.S. firm-Anthropic-as a supply chain risk. Anthropic's crime? It refused to violate industry-wide protocols against using AI for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons. Hegseth's designation, which has until now been reserved for foreign firms, bars U.S. military contractors from doing business with the company.
Anthropic sought explicit contractual restrictions to prevent its AI from being used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon, in contrast, insisted it must be able to deploy contractor technology for any lawful purpose. Negotiations broke down, the Department of Defense moved to terminate the contract, and it designated Anthropic a supply chain risk, effectively restricting many government agencies and defense contractors from working with the company.
The Chancellor's optimism around falling inflation and improving household finances is welcome, but for the thousands of small businesses facing rising employment costs in April, recovery is likely to still feel distant. Cash flow pressures are real and immediate, and many owners will have been hoping for more practical guidance on navigating decisions around hiring, investment, and growth.
Heat looks like validation, and validation looks like safety. It is hard to ignore a sector when customers start leaning forward at the same time investors do. Still, the more cycles I have lived through in competitive technology businesses, the more I see heat as an optical illusion. It sharpens whatever is easiest to notice and blurs the underlying mechanics that determine who or what holds control.
With AI just about only thing propping up an otherwise crumbling economy, fueling a supposed wave of innovation and helping the Pentagon choose who to bomb next, it stands to reason the feds would want to keep the tech on a short leash. If recent events are any indication, that leash is only getting tighter.
Tech execs are expected at the White House next week to sign what President Trump called a "ratepayer protection pledge" during Tuesday's State of the Union. OpenAI and Amazon are taking part in the "pledge" initiative, the companies confirmed. Others expected include Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI and Oracle, Fox News reported.
Creating a modern, fair and dynamic labour market is central to this Government's plan for growth. We want to make it easier for employers to find the people they need, while ensuring that work pays and feels secure. Through clear guidance, we are giving businesses the practical support they need to understand these changes and get things right first time.
The Biden administration Federal Trade Commission alum has hit the ground running with announcement after announcement - clearing a backlog of cases left to collect dust under former Mayor Eric Adams, forcefully demanding app companies comply with new worker-protection laws, and pledging to hold corporations and their CEO's accountable to the law. Levine's worker and consumer protection agency has emerged in recent years as a key regulatory force against the fast-growing delivery app industry, which has huge consequences for the city's public realm.
Putting yourself out there is difficult. Rejection is tough. And feeling like you've gotten the rug pulled out from under you is the worst. When you're in charge of business development, where you're responsible for growing your revenue within your current client portfolio as well as seeking out new potential opportunities, you can easily vacillate from feeling like a hero to feeling like a zero, depending on what kind of results you're getting from your efforts.
New analysis published today (6 February 2026) reveals a structural issue that is eroding valuations, limiting exits, and trapping founders in their businesses, with around 80% of UK private companies failing to sell. The White Paper, The Owner Dependence Problem in UK SME Businesses, published by Exit Factor, highlights how excessive reliance on founders is undermining business value across the UK SME sector. The White Paper analyses businesses with annual revenues between £3m and £30m and demonstrates how owner dependence materially restricts strategic options for owners.
If this is enacted-and that's a big if, though part of me hopes it is-we would likely see a significant contraction in industry credit card lending. Credit card issuers simply won't be able to sustain profitability at a 10% rate cap,
What is the point of AI alarmism if the people warning the world aren't changing course? A series of warnings from artificial intelligence (AI) industry insiders shows how the debate around AI drives extreme news cycles, swinging between hype and alarm. The result is media coverage that overlooks the intricacies of this technology and its impact on everyday life. We examine the real risks, what's being overstated, and what major tech companies stand to gain from all the fearmongering.
"The suggestion that patents are anti-progress is a dangerous myth that continues to be perpetuated by those who are ill-informed or believe sharing inventions for free is a more expedient strategy than paying for a license." Sharing information about an invention is not an option. With patents, disclosure is a requirement which benefits the inventor, other inventors and society. When and how an invention is shared makes a huge difference.
Businesses are acting fast to adopt agentic AI- artificial intelligence systems that work without human guidance-but have been much slower to put governance in place to oversee them, a new survey shows. That mismatch is a major source of risk in AI adoption. In my view, it's also a business opportunity. I'm a professor of management information systems at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business,