Good morning. It’s Friday, so: pop quiz time!
It's thought that social media use reached its highest point in 2022. (Apparently, all that online feuding with your neighbor in the neighborhood group isn't not as captivating as you might think!)
Of the age groups 16 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, and 55 to 64, which demographic abandoned it earliest?
Find the answer below in “Endstop triggered.” Enjoy your weekend. —Andrew Nusca
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Ron Conway steps down from board, citing Marc Benioff's political stances
A prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist stepped down from the board of Salesforce's charitable foundation yesterday.
The cause? CEO Marc Benioff's recent remarks showing backing for President Trump and his directive to deploy the National Guard to San Francisco to curb crime.
“I have expressed candidly to you, repeatedly, in recent days, that I am shocked and disappointed by your comments calling for an unwanted invasion of San Francisco by federal troops,” Ron Conway wrote in an email, “and by your willful ignorance and detachment from the impacts of the ICE immigration raids of families with NO criminal record.”
He added: “It saddens me immensely to say that with your recent comments, and failure to understand their impact, I now barely recognize the person I have so long admired.”
Conway, renowned for his stakes in companies like Airbnb, Google, Facebook, PayPal, Twitter, and Snap, served on the Salesforce Foundation board for ten years and had known Benioff for over twenty. He's also a consistent contributor to Democratic causes.
Benioff has supported politicians from both major parties, including Republicans Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik, John Boehner, John McCain, and George W. Bush, as well as Democrats Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, and Hillary Clinton. —AN
Microsoft is integrating AI capabilities into standard Windows 11 computers.
With every large corporation restructuring to incorporate AI across its products, operations, personnel, and strategies, a key figure in this transformative movement is ensuring their own offerings are also being updated.
Microsoft said Thursday that it would revamp its Windows 11 operating system (which came out in 2021, a year before ChatGPT launched) by adding a slew of new features to bridge the gap between today’s regular PCs and tomorrow’s “AI PCs.”
“When we think about what the promise of an AI PC is, it should be capable of three things,” the company wrote in a blog post. “First, you should be able to interact with it naturally, in text or voice, and have it understand you. Second, it should be able to see what you see and be able to offer guided support. And third, it should be able to take action on your behalf.”
Of the new features, the most notable are those that encourage you to talk to your device—get ready for “Hey, Copilot”—or review things on your screen (to, say, answer questions about a document or guide you through an unfamiliar app).
Then there are the agents. Copilot Actions aim to handle computing chores for you in the background; a provided example is correcting orientation and removing duplicates in a folder full of photos.
While Microsoft hasn't revealed a launch date for Windows 12, the transition from Windows 10 to 11 spanned six years. We're hoping these new AI capabilities will suffice until 2027. —AN
Reports suggest a MacBook with a touchscreen is currently being developed.
A new report indicates Apple is planning to release a MacBook Pro featuring a touch screen sometime between late 2026 and early 2027.
The laptop will be powered by Apple’s M6 chip, the successor to its just-announced M5, per Bloomberg.
Critics of the company will say that Apple is once again late to the PC party. Touchscreen laptops have been out for more than a decade; today, Microsoft’s Surface and Acer’s Chromebook lead the way.
The new laptops will feature the same OLED tech found in Apple’s mobile devices and “retain a full trackpad and keyboard” so touch isn’t the only way to use them, according to the report.
They’ll also cost “a few hundred dollars more” thanks to stronger hinges and other components necessary to make the format work. Today’s MacBooks start at two and two-and-a-half grand.
It's been a long time coming for Apple. Way back in 2010, Steve Jobs argued that “touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical.” But as the late co-founder would no doubt recognize, the times, they are a-changin’. —AN
More tech
—OpenAI hires black hole theoretical physicist. There’s a joke in here somewhere.
—Ripple acquires GTreasury. A billion-dollar buy of the platform for corporations to manage cash, foreign exchange, and risk.
—Spotify partners with Sony, WMG, UMG, and others to develop “responsible AI products.”
—Apple, NBCU roll out TV bundle. Apple TV plus Peacock Premium for $14.99/mo. Just don’t call it cable!
—Amazon's Ring partners with Flock. Law enforcement agencies that work with Flock can request Ring footage.
—DoorDash, Waymo partner. Robotaxis for food delivery? Strap in.
—South Korea rolls back AI textbook initiative. Teachers, students, and parents alike rejected the $850 million effort.
Endstop triggered
Answer: between 16 and 24 years old, based on a study of 250,000 adults across over 50 nations by GWI, a firm specializing in digital audience insights. Published in the Financial Times.
“Across the developed world, adults aged 16 and older spent an average of two hours and 20 minutes per day on social platforms at the end of 2024, down by almost 10 percent since 2022,” the FT writes. “Notably, the decline is most pronounced among the erstwhile heaviest users — teens and 20-somethings.”
They started the trend, and now they’re ending it. Poetic, really.