If youre a Plex user who owns an Apple TV with tvOS 14 or later, you can now take the companys new user experience for a spin. Previously only available to testers on mobile Android and iOS devices, the beta Plex app can now be appreciated on a TV arguably the most important screen for the popular media streaming and organization software.The expanded use of artwork throughout the app is the most noticeable change, but Plex says the entire flow has been re-imagined to make things like content discovery more intuitive. Thankfully, the beta app is just that a separate app from the most current stable Plex release which means that if you sign up to be a tester and hate what you see, you can jump back to the classic Plex experience anytime.1 of 6Plex Plex Plex Plex Plex Plex The folks at Plex are eager to remind testers that the beta app is very much a work in progress. The official announcement notes, please keep in mind this is nowhere close to perfect, but we want to get feedback from the community as early as we can, with the team promising that the app will get better over time.Recommended VideosOther changes are also coming to the classic Plex experience. When the company launched its user reviews in 2024, they were initially only visible to your Plex friends. At the time, the company said it would eventually give folks the ability to make their reviews public to any Plex user that day has arrived.PlexIf youve published reviews previously, your privacy settings for those posts remain intact, but now you have several new visibility options including, Private, Friends Only, Friends of Friends, Anyone signed into Plex, and Anyone. These options are also now available for other profile privacy settings like Watchlist, Watch History, and your Friends list. As part of the update, you can now add comments to reviews written by your fellow Plex users.PlexYou can also choose to make your Plex profile publicly accessible viawatch.plex.tv. By default all Plex users are findable by other Plex users in the app via search (unless youve already changed this setting). By making your profile publicly accessible on watch.plex.tv you can easily share a link to your profile with others so that they can see what youve been watching, whats on your Watchlist, and more.Please enable Javascript to view this contentFinally, Plex has something for its Plex Pass subscribers: HEVC hardware encoding.This is the kind of update that only a true video nerd could love, but it may have background benefits for any Plex Pass user. In short, Plex Media Servers can now use hardware encoding to transcode your videos into HEVC format before streaming to your Plex client. Plex says this not only reduces bandwidth while preserving detail, but it also maintains any HDR metadata that might be present, even if the transcoding process has to drop your resolution down e.g. from 4K to 1080p.For those who primarily stream from a Plex server to a client within the same home network, this isnt likely to be a game changer (hopefully your network can already handle 4K streams), but if you ever access your server remotely, HEVC could make a big difference as you cant always count on a fast connection when away from home.Editors Recommendations

The money is flowing Google increases investment in Anthropic by another $1 billion AI group is closing in on a $60 billion valuation. George Hammond, Madhumita Murgia, and Arash Massoudi, Financial Times Jan 22, 2025 9:19 am | 1 The Anthropic Claude logo. Credit: Anthropic The Anthropic Claude logo. Credit: Anthropic Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreGoogle is making a fresh investment of more than $1 billion into OpenAI rival Anthropic, boosting its position in the start-up as Silicon Valley titans rush to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems.The Alphabet-owned search behemoth had already committed about $2 billion to Anthropic and was now increasing its stake in the group, according to four people with knowledge of the situation.Anthropic, best known for its Claude family of AI models, is one of the leading start-ups in the new wave of generative AI companies building tools to generate text, images, and code in response to user prompts.Google invented the technology on which models such as Claude and OpenAIs GPT4 are built, but it has lagged behind in the race to commercialize the powerful technology. The Anthropic investment is part of the Silicon Valley companys efforts to diversify its AI business and take on deep-pocketed competitors, including Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon.Anthropic was also on the cusp of securing a further $2 billion from Silicon Valley venture capital investors, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, in a separate deal expected to triple the start-ups valuation to about $60 billion, according to several people with direct knowledge of the deal.The start-up is in a fierce competition with rivals OpenAI and Elon Musks xAI, both of which raised more than $10 billion last year, as well as Facebook parent Meta and Microsoft.The new tranche of money from Google into Anthropic adds to a total investment of $8 billion from Amazon, the ecommerce groups largest-ever venture investment, announced over the past 18 months. Amazon is also working to embed the Claude models into the next-generation version of its Alexa speaker.The close relationships between AI start-ups and their Big Tech backers were probed by the Federal Trade Commission during Joe Bidens administration.Under outgoing commissioner Lina Khan, the FTC had targeted investments from Google and Amazon into Anthropic and Microsofts partnership with OpenAI, reviewing the impact of the deals on competition in the nascent sector. But with Khan stepping down in the coming weeks, dealmakers are growing more confident in their ability to forge tie-ups.Anthropics revenue hit an annualized $1 billion in December, up roughly 10 times on a year earlier, according to a person with knowledge of the companys finances.Nonetheless, investors are not anticipating that Anthropic or its rivals will be profitable in the near future, given the steep costs of developing leading AI models. With new breakthroughs, they believe the technology could ultimately create trillions of dollars in value.Right now Im more confident than I have been at any previous time that we are very close to powerful capabilities...AI systems that are better than almost all humans at almost all tasks, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday.Anthropic, founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI employees, has sought to differentiate itself from its rivals by focusing on AI safety. It has poached multiple staff from OpenAI in recent months, including a co-founder of the company.The group was also first to release certain features, such as the ability for its AI to control computers, and is focused this year, alongside rivals, on creating AI agentssoftware that can complete tasks and navigate the web on behalf of human users. 2025 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied, or modified in any way.George Hammond, Madhumita Murgia, and Arash Massoudi, Financial TimesGeorge Hammond, Madhumita Murgia, and Arash Massoudi, Financial Times 1 Comments

Lisa Morgan, Freelance WriterJanuary 22, 20259 Min ReadSiarhei Yurchanka via Alamy StockIT operating models continue to evolve as new tech and business trends emerge. Its a constant state of change that needs to be well thought out and managed, with an eye toward fueling innovation.In 2025, the IT operating model will inevitably undergo a profound transformation, especially in automation, intelligence and flexibility, says Alex Li, founder of StudyX at AI education company StudyX.AI in an email interview. With the continuous advancement of technology, emerging technologies such as cloud computing, AI, and machine learning will be the key driving forces for upgrading the IT operating model.However, the core factors driving this transformation are not just the technology itself, he says. As consumer demands for personalization and high-quality services continue to rise, the IT operation model must be adaptable and responsive.Trevor Fry, founder & tech consultant at TreverFry.tech, says IT leaders are facing two big trends this year.First, AI is maturing. Its growing beyond the wild west phase and is becoming a useful, everyday tool. Thats exciting, but means we need to be more mindful about data security and ethical usage. We are also just barely starting to discover the ecological impacts of utilizing these tools, says Fry in an email interview. Second, theres a workplace revolution happening.Related:Specifically, employees are burned out and disillusioned about the cultures and flexible schedules they were promised only to discover that company policies have changed. Alternatively, they may be too scared to exercise the rights their employers give them -- such as flexible work hours -- for fear of being first on the cut list, Fry says. As organizations become leaner, employees are job-hoarding, doing anything they can to keep their position while managers are stretched thin. Since that model doesnt scale well, its forcing IT to rethink how their operating models should work.Alex Li, StudyX.AIEfrain Ruh, field CTO continental Europe at SaaS-based autonomous enterprise software provider for IT and business operations Digitate, foresees enterprises making heavy investments to reduce IT operating environmental complexity. Some companies will focus on moving to SaaS and PaaS platforms, but they will need to maintain certain critical workloads running on legacy systems until they figure out the best way to migrate.In 2025, enterprises are looking to achieve autonomous and self-healing IT environments, which is currently referred to as AIOps. However, the use of AI will become so common in IT operations that we wont need to call it [that] explicitly, says Ruh in an email interview. Instead, the term, AIOps will become obsolete over the next two years as enterprises move towards the first wave of AI agents, where early adopters will start deploying intelligent components in their landscape able to reason and take care of tasks with an elevated level of autonomy.Related:All that will lead to a ticketless IT operating enterprise known as ZeroOps, he says. It wont happen overnight, and to achieve it applications must be resilient by design. Attempting to apply ZeroOps to a complex existing environment requires an enormous amount of effort that may not be justifiable.I see similarities between the auto industry struggl[ing] to provide a full-autonomous driving experience, and IT ops trying to deploy a fully autonomous solution for operations, says Ruh. It is not that the technology is not available, it has [more] to do more with liability: Who do we blame when an AI agent makes a mistake with catastrophic results?"Kent Langley, founder at strategic technology advisory firm Factual, says organizations must embrace agility, using AI as a connective tissue to enable transparency, autonomy, and alignment across teams, but decentralization without structure risks redundancy and chaos.Related:The IT operating model of 2025 must adapt to a landscape shaped by rapid decentralization, flatter structures, and AI-driven innovation, says Langley in an email interview. These shifts are driven by the need for agility in responding to changing business needs and the transformative impact of AI on decision-making, coordination and communication. Technology is no longer just a tool but a connective tissue that enables transparency and autonomy across teams while aligning them with broader organizational goals.Challenges With TransformationFry says IT leaders are facing the challenge of creating the right culture, since IT operating model evolution isnt just a tech issue.Trevor FryIT leaders need to get better at listening to the people doing the work. Theyre the ones who see the cracks and inefficiencies that leadership might miss, says Fry. But -- and this is critical -- aligning that feedback with a strategic vision is key. We cant just hand over the reins [to the business], but we also cant succeed without their insights. We are seeing many legacy companies start to cycle out of the old ways and dip their toes into modern technologies as they are falling behind their competitors and no longer able to work around legacy tools and processes.Therefore, the IT operating model of 2025 needs to prioritize adaptability and focus.Its about giving teams the tools and clarity they need to do great work while protecting them from unnecessary burdens, says Fry. Technology, like AI and automation, can help streamline operations, but we cant lose sight of the human element. Success will come from leaders who actively support their teams, not just direct them.Factuals Langley believes decentralization will be challenging. Without clear structures, organizations risk redundant work, fragmented knowledge and reduced cohesion.IT leaders must transition from traditional hierarchical roles to facilitators who harness AI to enable autonomy while maintaining strategic alignment. This means creating systems for collaboration and clarity, ensuring the organization thrives in a decentralized environment, says Langley. In 2025, we anticipate leveraging AI-driven tools to evolve our IT model toward more autonomy, coordination and resilience. By emphasizing these principles today, were preparing to thrive in an agile, AI-empowered future.Raviraj Hegde, SVP of growth at non-profit online fundraising platform Donorbox, believes the two major challenges continue to be keeping data secure and controlling costs.The biggest challenge will be a balancing act between innovation and stability. IT teams will have to adopt new tools but also make sure systems stay reliable. Collaboration with other departments will be very important in understanding what the business really needs, says Hegde in an email interview. [T]he IT model at DonorBox will be more integrated with AI and automation to serve nonprofits even better. Most [likely], we will be working on smart usage of data and enhancement of our systems to scale efficiently.Dan Merzlyak, senior vice president, global head of data, analytics and AI at Postgres data and AI company EnterpriseDB, says the need for faster innovation, operational efficiency and seamless customer experiences are pushing IT to the forefront.The rapid advancements in AI, like GenAI and predictive analytics, further amplify ITs role in enabling smarter decisions and faster outcomes. In 2025, IT wont just facilitate better, faster outcomes; it will shape them, serving as the backbone for competitive, technology-driven business strategies, says Merzlyak in an email interview. Corporate, personnel, and data security will remain top challenges. As new technologies -- whether traditional, cloud-based, or AI-drivenbecome easier to adopt, the risk of exposing sensitive business assets grows. IT must lead the charge in modernizing operational strategies while maintaining a relentless focus on safeguarding the companys most critical data and systems. Balancing innovation with robust security will be the key to long-term success.In 2025, EnterpriseDB will continue exploring ways to enhance traditional IT practices through automation and AI so IT leaders can focus on high-value, high-impact initiatives that drive exponential growth. By leveraging automation and AI, IT will be in a better position to support the companys expansion while maintaining security and operational excellence.In the Industrial Sector, Composability Will Be KeyKevin Price, global head of enterprise asset management at enterprise cloud and Industrial AI software provider IFS, says in the industrial sector, asset lifecycle management is problematic because its complicated and IT structures have a lot of problems.Its [convoluted] because people in those application roles tend to focus on what that function does, and they try to extend it. [Or] they think about of how specific that individual function should be, says Price. [W]hat we lose when we do that is a focus on what matters, and what matters in the industry matters in the business.He sees composability being a major trend in 2025, so instead of running everything with general industrial applications, individual functions can be combined as necessary for the specific industry and use case.[M]id-stream oil and gas [is] pretty asset intensive and risk critical. When it fails, it's a big disaster. People [and] the environment get hurt. There's just loads of concerns from a technology security perspective, says Price. I should have models or agents, so I [can] have a system that composes for that need of mid-stream oil and gas, but I should have agents that I can selectively deploy.That way, organizations can avoid using a system designed for a mining operation in a manufacturing or oil and gas environment, for example, and instead use components that were designed with the specific use case in mind.Bottom LineAs tech and business requirements change, so must the IT operating model. Because agility and speed remain top priorities, tech choices and IT operations need to align to make that happen.About the AuthorLisa MorganFreelance WriterLisa Morgan is a freelance writer who covers business and IT strategy and emergingtechnology for InformationWeek. She has contributed articles, reports, and other types of content to many technology, business, and mainstream publications and sites including tech pubs, The Washington Post and The Economist Intelligence Unit. Frequent areas of coverage include AI, analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, mobility, software development, and emerging cultural issues affecting the C-suite.See more from Lisa MorganNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Many organizations have experimented with AI, but they havent always gotten the full value from their investments. A host of issues standing in the way center on the accuracy, fairness, and securityof AI systems. In response, organizations are actively exploring the principles of responsible AI: the idea that AI systems must be fair, transparent, and beneficial to society for it to be widely adopted. When responsible AI is done right, it unlocks trust and therefore customer adoption of enterprise AI. According to the US National Institute of Standards and Technology the essential building blocks Validity and reliability Safety Security and resiliency Accountability and transparency Explainability and interpretability Privacy Fairness with mitigation of harmful bias DOWNLOAD THE REPORT To investigate the current landscape of responsible AI across the enterprise, MIT Technology Review Insights surveyed 250 business leaders about how theyre implementing principles that ensure AI trustworthiness. The poll found that responsible AI is important to executives, with 87% of respondents rating it a high or medium priority for their organization. A majority of respondents (76%) also say that responsible AI is a high or medium priority specifically for creating a competitive advantage. But relatively few have figured out how to turn these ideas into reality. We found that only 15% of those surveyed felt highly prepared to adopt effective responsible AI practices, despite the importance they placed on them. Putting responsible AI into practice in the age of generative AI requires a series of best practices that leading companies are adopting. These practices can include cataloging AI models and data and implementing governance controls. Companies may benefit from conducting rigorous assessments, testing, and audits for risk, security, and regulatory compliance. At the same time, they should also empower employees with training at scale and ultimately make responsible AI a leadership priority to ensure their change efforts stick. We all know AI is the most influential change in technology that weve seen, but theres a huge disconnect, says Steven Hall, chief AI officer and president of EMEA at ISG, a global technology research and IT advisory firm. Everybody understands how transformative AI is going to be and wants strong governance, but the operating model and the funding allocated to responsible AI are well below where they need to be given its criticality to the organization. Download the full report. This content was produced by Insights, the custom content arm of MIT Technology Review. It was not written by MIT Technology Reviews editorial staff.

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. OpenAI has upped its lobbying efforts nearly sevenfold OpenAI spent $1.76 million on government lobbying in 2024 and $510,000 in the last three months of the year alone, according to a new disclosure filed on Tuesdaya significant jump from 2023, when the company spent just $260,000 on Capitol Hill. The disclosure is a clear signal of the companys arrival as a political player, as its first year of serious lobbying ends and Republican control of Washington begins. While OpenAIs lobbying spending is still dwarfed by bigger tech players, the uptick comes as it and other AI companies are helping redraw the shape of AI policy. Read the full story.James ODonnell A new company plans to use Earth as a chemical reactor Forget massive steel tankssome scientists want to make chemicals with the help of rocks deep beneath Earths surface. New research shows that ammonia, a chemical crucial for fertilizer, can be produced from rocks at temperatures and pressures that are common in the subsurface. The research was published yesterday in Joule, and MIT Technology Review can exclusively report that a new company, called Addis Energy, has been founded to commercialize the process. Ammonia is used in most fertilizers and is a vital part of our modern food system. Its also being considered for use as a green fuel in industries like transoceanic shipping. The problem is that current processes used to make ammonia require a lot of energy and produce huge amounts of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Read the full story.Casey Crownhart There can be no winners in a US-China AI arms race Alvin Wang Graylin and Paul Triolo The United States and China are entangled in what many have dubbed an AI arms race. In the early days of this standoff, US policymakers drove an agenda centered on winning the race, mostly from an economic perspective. In recent months, leading AI labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic got involved in pushing the narrative of beating China in what appeared to be an attempt to align themselves with the incoming Trump administration. The belief that the US can win in such a race was based mostly on the early advantage it had over China in advanced GPU compute resources and the effectiveness of AIs scaling laws. But now it appears that access to large quantities of advanced compute resources is no longer the defining or sustainable advantage many had thought it would be. Read the full story.Meet the divers trying to figure out how deep humans can go Figuring out how the human body can withstand underwater pressure has been a problem for over a century, but a ragtag band of divers is experimenting with hydrogen to find out. This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, whichwere publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as its released. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Donald Trump has pardoned the creator of Silk Road Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering, and hacking. (BBC)+ The 40-year old has been in prison since 2015. (NYT $)+ Its a clear attempt to curry favor with the crypto community. (Bloomberg $)2 The US is embarking on a major AI data center pushOpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle will create $100 billion in computing infrastructure. (NYT $) + Sam Altman says the project will facilitate the birth of AGI in America. (Insider $)3 What Trumps executive orders mean for you From a national energy emergency to pausing wind projects. (Fast Company $)+ The new President also officially established DOGE. (Ars Technica)4 YouTuber Mr Beast is considering buying TikTok His lawyer insists hes deadly serious. (CNN)+ What is the true value of TikTok, exactly? (The Information $)+ Trump is open to Elon Musk bidding for ownership too. (The Guardian)5 Microsoft will foot the bill to restore part of the Amazon rainforest In exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of carbon credits. (FT $)+ Google, Amazon and the problem with Big Techs climate claims. (MIT Technology Review) 6 Google sold AI tools to Israels military in the wake of the Hamas attackIn stark contrast to its public stance distancing itself from Israels security apparatus. (WP $) 7 Inside the fight raging over NASAs first deep space stationSome experts argue we should start building living quarters directly on the moon instead. (Undark) + Heres what an exploding rocket looks like. (New Scientist $)+ Whats next for NASAs giant moon rocket? (MIT Technology Review) 8 How the Parcae satellite program helped to win the Cold WarAnd ushered in a new age of eavesdropping in the process. (IEEE Spectrum) 9 Startup founders are hustling for deals at inauguration parties Networking is so back, baby. (TechCrunch)+ How a Greenwich Village bar became a MAGA mecca. (NY Mag $)10 How AI could revamp treatment for snake bites Courtesy of a recent Nobel chemistry prize winner. (Economist $)Quote of the day Its not at all like being an employee. Theres nobody you can talk to. Everything is automated. A gig economy driver tells the Guardian about his frustration in navigating the platforms apps. The big story How tactile graphics can help end image poverty June 2023 Chancey Fleet In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic lockdown, my husband and I bought a house in Brooklyn and decided to rebuild the interior. He taught me a few key architectural symbols and before long I was drawing my own concepts, working toward a shared vision of the home we eventually designed. Its a commonplace story, except for one key factor: Im blind, and Ive made it my mission to ensure that blind New Yorkers can create and explore images. As a blind tech educator, its my joband my passionto introduce blind and low-vision patrons to tools that help them move through daily life with autonomy and ease. Read the full story. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + To prevent sore shoulders and bad backs, it helps to know the muscles that cause them.+ Its time to join the crispy gnocchi club.+ If youre lucky enough to win an Academy Award, dont even think about trying to sell it.+ Space-age bachelor pad music looks like a pretty great genre to me.

A global job crisis is brewing, Singapore's president warned in a World Economic Forum panel.About 1.2 billion new workers will be competing for 400 million jobs over the next decade, he said.Tharman Shanmugaratnam called for an overhaul of education and labor force training to help workers.Singapore's president says a global job crisis is looming, and tackling it will require governments around the world to reimagine how they educate, train, and care for their workers.Tharman Shanmugaratnam sounded the alarm during a Wednesday panel titled "Closing the Jobs Gap" at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. He delivered a wide-ranging monologue in the session moderated by Business Insider's editor in chief, Jamie Heller.Shanmugaratnam an economist with degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, and the London School of Economics said that roughly 1.2 billion people from developing and emerging nations are set to enter the global workforce over the next decade, but only 400 million new jobs are projected to be created in that period.If another 800 million people wind up underemployed or fully unemployed, it won't just be an economic, social, and political nightmare it will represent a "crisis of social compact" and a "crisis of hope, of self-belief and dignity, and a crisis of solidarity," he said.Narrowing the jobs gap will require "shaping human potential through life," from the crucial first three years of a child's life to what they learn in school and at work, Shanmugaratnam said.He flagged the mismatch between the overly academic and insufficiently technical education provided by many universities, and the skills that employers demand, which has left many graduates jobless and could leave a "whole generation feeling the system has failed them."He also underscored the need to equip workers with the breadth of abilities and soft skills necessary to excel in their careers.AI and informal workShanmugaratnam has held top-level government positions focused on human resources, education, finance, and economic and social policies during his career.At Davos, he discussed the rise of artificial intelligence and the prospect that the technology could lead to mass displacement of workers.He called for governments and employers to continually invest in workers to increase the chances that AI complements their skills instead of rendering them obsolete. He also urged authorities to take care of workers replaced by the tech.Shanmugaratnam also flagged that the vast majority of workers in the developing world are in the informal sector, so they lack job security, have no opportunity to develop their skills, and are underemployed.He called for other countries to follow Singapore's example and give gig workers benefits such as workplace injury compensation and social security,and ensure employers build up their workforce's skills over time.

Alessandro Palombo has lived in Dubai and he's launched two businesses in Singapore. He said people in Dubai often display their wealth, while Singapore has billionaires in flip-flops. The lifestyle in Dubai can be transient, meanwhile, Singapore can feel small, he said. This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Alessandro Palombo, 36, an entrepreneur based in Lisbon, about doing business in Dubai and Singapore. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I lived in Dubai for around four years, and I have two businesses in Singapore.I started my career in the legal field but pivoted into startups. I currently live in Lisbon and focus on running a fund advisor for a Golden Visa fund helping non-Europeans gain residency and citizenship in Portugal.I first moved to Dubai in 2019. I used the city as my headquarters and often traveled from there for work and my startups. I had team members in Asia, so there was good connectivity from Dubai to them. I also frequently visited Singapore for business trips.I launched two businesses, including a fund advisor, in Singapore in 2024. I travel frequently to manage both companies and plan to spend at least a quarter of my time there moving forward.Having experienced life in both Dubai and Singapore, here is a comparison of what I think of both locations. Overall, I think they are both great places for doing business. Dubai is better suited for doing business with Europe or the US, and Singapore is a great place if you're doing business in Asia.Displays of luxury are more understated in Singapore than in DubaiPeople in Dubai often display their wealth, while in Singapore, there were billionaires in flip-flops it's more understated.In Dubai, you can get lost among hundreds of luxury shops at the Dubai Mall. It shows you the best of every luxury brand in one place.While luxury is embedded into a holiday experience in Dubai, it isn't at the center of your experience when you live there. When visiting for a week, you're typically taken to high-end attractions and restaurants, but living in Dubai reveals its more grounded side. You can dine in more authentic Lebanese restaurants for 25 euros, around the same in dollars a head.Meanwhile, in Singapore, I've personally met more wealthy and powerful people than I did in Dubai. This could be due to coincidences around my network, but I have a feeling it attracts more people who have already made it as opposed to people who are trying to make it. I've met several wealthy people who were dressed in ordinary clothes but had significant assets, including luxury cars.In Dubai, business meetings often happen in lavish offices, but in Singapore, I've seen more personal touches, like a CEO's private room with an extraordinary cigar collection and premium liquor items that reflect wealth but aren't immediately visible.Consider where your clients are based when deciding which city is best for your businessI think both locations are great for digital nomads and entrepreneurs.In Dubai, the killer value proposition is 0% personal income tax. It's one of the very rare places in the world where your earnings, capital gains, and dividends are not taxed. It's a major advantage for people who have wealth to preserve and for digital nomads. However, there is a 5% VAT.If you're doing business with Europe or the US, Dubai would be a better fit because of the time zone.Meanwhile, Singapore offers an unmatched ease of doing business in Asia without the language barriers present in countries like China, where Mandarin is essential. However, if you have clients in Europe, the time difference can make things difficult.In Singapore, personal income tax is reasonable, and there are thoughtful tax exemptions for startups. Plus, there is no capital gains tax or foreign-source income tax. Singapore is such an efficient city. Compared to Dubai, it's faster to open a bank account. The tax guidelines are clear, and they enable you to do business easily.That said, there are challenges around entrepreneurship in both locations. In Dubai, pathways for securing a visa can involve establishing a company or obtaining a freelance license. While feasible, it's more complex than it appears, and it's often useful to have assistance from trusted local partners. In Singapore, incorporation is straightforward, but obtaining the required Employment Pass involves additional steps.There are some potential downsides to life in both cities.In Dubai, I think the lifestyle can be quite transient. There's a large expat population, and since many people see their time there as temporary, it can limit deep connections.I'd avoid the hottest summer months in Dubai. If you open your door in July, it's like a huge hairdryer blowing hot air on you. Meanwhile, in Singapore, it's hot and humid all year round. In both places, expect to be spending a lot of time in buildings with air conditioning.Both cities can be expensive, but I think Singapore is more expensive, particularly the cost of cars and real estate.Singapore is also a very small city. In Lisbon, where I live now, I can drive to many beautiful places in my car like beaches and hiking spaces, but in Singapore, you don't have to drive for long before you've left Singapore and are entering Malaysia. In the medium to long term, you may feel the smallness of the space. I haven't lived in Singapore, but when I visit, I often end up in the same four or five streets.Overall, Singapore and Dubai are great examples of international hubs, and I really like both cities.Do you want to share a review of cities you've lived in for work and business purposes? Email ccheong@businessinsider.com

Why do disasters happen?The ancient Greeks had an all-purpose explanation, as Ive been learning from my Greek myth-mad 7-year-old son: the gods.Bad harvest? The gods. Plague? The gods. Drought? The gods. Sea monster ravages your city? Definitely the gods specifically that jerk Poseidon, who once sent a sea monster to raze Troy because its king Laomedon refused to pay him for building the city walls. At a time when understanding of the mechanics of the natural world was as poor as its cosmology was rich, the idea that the catastrophes were the result of the actions of higher beings must have brought some sense to the senselessness of suffering. And that idea that we should distinguish between events that had a clear human cause and those that did not stuck around, even as paganism gave way to monotheistic religion, and humans developed legal systems and codes meant to judge liability and guilt. By the 16th century, the term act of God had entered the English lexicon, meaning any natural event or disaster that was seen as both beyond human understanding (or prediction) and a direct manifestation of divine will. An act of God meant that no person or business could be held legally liable for any resulting damage from such an event a distinction that became increasingly important as the modern insurance industry took root in late 17th-century England.Originally, an act of God was largely a way for insurers to get out of paying claims. At a time when risk assessment and prevention was still primitive, natural disasters and other acts of God were generally not covered, because there was no way to insure against what was still unforeseeable. But as both the insurance industry and risk prediction matured, that category began to shrink. Storms could be forecast; seismic zones could be identified; flood zones could be calculated. Insurers could price specific policies for specific risks with greater and greater confidence; if we couldnt always prevent a disaster, increasingly we could at least see it coming and know why, and therefore prepare. It wasnt the gods or God who made the earth move it was the movement of tectonic plates.Risk still existed, just as it did for the ancient Greeks. The difference is that it was comprehensible. God was mostly out of the picture. Right?Not exactly.Whos at fault?The wildfires still burning in Los Angeles are shaping up to be one of the most expensive disasters in US history, with early estimates putting the toll at $250 billion or more. The question of who will ultimately pay that bill and what might be done to prevent such a catastrophe in the future is an enormous one, with no shortage of possible answers.Perhaps its the fossil fuel companies thatve helped create the climate change that turbocharged the fires, as many environmental advocates argue. Or maybe its the fault of the federal government for decades of fire suppression that has led to an overaccumulation of flammable fuel in forested areas. Or it could be the government of Los Angeless failure to properly fund water infrastructure and firefighting. Or perhaps its Californias fault for restricting housing construction, which has pushed more and more development into wildfire-prone areas. Or the insurance companies for taking away coverage connected to climate change?This story was first featured in the Future Perfect newsletter.Sign up here to explore the big, complicated problems the world faces and the most efficient ways to solve them. Sent twice a week.Or maybe we can trace it all the way back to William Mulhollands decision in the early 20th century to build a massive aqueduct to bring water to the parched Los Angeles, which directly enabled the rapid growth of what would become Americas second-biggest city on the site of what is essentially a roulette wheel of different natural disasters?What all these causes have in common is that at their root is human action, or inaction. Which, in a way, is a comfort. Theres no known antidote to divine retribution, but if human action is at the root of this and other disasters, then human action can remedy it. Were a long way from blaming the gods here, unless by gods, were talking about ourselves.The problem of evilI was an English major with a concentration in creative writing, which means I can parse some iambic pentameter and, if Im feeling particularly sadistic, show you the 400-page novel I wrote as my senior thesis. But my most memorable class over those four years was the only one I took in the religion department. It had the very metal name The Problem of Evil, which I think was the main reason I signed up. (That, and it fulfilled my ethical thought requirement.)In its formulation, the problem of evil is a simple one: How can an omniscient, omnipotent and all-good God allow evil and suffering to occur in the world? Why, in other words, do disasters happen or perhaps better, are allowed to happen?To the ancient Greeks, the problem of evil wasnt a problem at all. Their gods werent omniscient, werent omnipotent, and definitely werent all good. They were like us immortal and powerful, but beset by recognizably human passions and emotions. Above all else, they could and did make mistakes, much as we can and do make mistakes.In the postwar era, the problem of evil increasingly became a secular one. It wasnt just because humanity itself had become less religious, or that the war itself and especially the Holocaust had revealed evil on such a titanic scale that the very premise of an all-powerful and all-good God seemed absurd to so many. Rather, it was because scientific and technological progress had put humanity center stage. Whether it was creating nuclear bombs capable of ending life on this planet, or astronauts leaving footprints on the moon, we were the gods now. When things happened good, bad, or otherwise were the ones who made them happen.We are as godsThe environmentalist and tech thinker Stewart Brand has a quote that always stuck with me: We are as gods, and might as well get good at it. It appeared in the opening statement of the first Whole Earth Catalog in 1968, at the height of the space program and the Cold War, when the first glimpses of what would become the modern tech industry, born in California, were becoming visible. It was a celebration of human agency and creativity.In 2009, in his book Whole Earth Discipline, Brand modified the line: We are as gods, and HAVE to get good at it. The 1960s-era egotism in that earlier vision was tempered. We had to accept our power over the Earth, and we had to use it wisely. We had to be good gods. The alternative was destruction.The problem is, we are not good at it. Being gods, I mean not yet. I believe that the Los Angeles wildfires are largely the result of human action, or inaction. The greenhouse gases weve pumped into the atmosphere, contributing to the hydroclimate whiplash that primed LAs forests to burn. The housing and insurance policies that put too many homes in a wildfire danger zone, too many of which were built to burn. The small mistakes of judgement in the governmental response to the fires, and the bigger errors of overconfidence that made it possible to believe that such a place as Los Angeles could exist where it did, and everything would be fine.But the precise combination of factors that led to the fires, and the precise series of actions to take Los Angeles into a safer future that is much, much harder to know. Which doesnt stop the avalanche of voices who are perfectly confident in exactly who is at fault and what we should do. Its a pattern I see in global challenge after global challenge, from artificial intelligence to pandemics to climate change. And I believe that attitude is why, increasingly, the aftermath of a disaster isnt unity, but division. Each side is convinced they alone know who is at fault, and they alone know how to fix it.But the truth is that our power to affect the world greatly exceeds our ability to understand and anticipate the effects of what we do, as much as we might be convinced otherwise. So if were gods, were blind gods, but so wrapped up in hubris that we believe we can see. The ancient Greeks knew hubris well, and they knew what followed it: nemesis, or divine retribution. But there are no gods to punish us. Instead, we have to live with our mistakes, if we can. So perhaps, as we sift through the ashes in Los Angeles, we can embrace the opposite of hubris: humility. Not about our power, but about our vision.A version of this story originally appeared in the Future Perfect newsletter. Sign up here!Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Vox reader Burak Ova asks: What is HIV and what is AIDS? How is it transmitted? What are the prevention methods? Is there a cure?Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) killed millions of people every year in the early 2000s during the height of the AIDS pandemic. Now, some two decades later, scientific advancements and public health interventions have transformed one of the deadliest diseases into something manageable, where a regular dose of medication nearly prevents its spread altogether.So youre right to wonder whether weve squashed AIDS, at least to the point where people dont have to worry about it. HIV is a particularly tricky virus. When it infects a person, the virus infects and kills a specific type of blood cell (called a T cell) that fights infections. This weakens the immune system and also prevents the immune system from killing HIV. If left untreated, an HIV infection develops into a severe disease called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). At that point, the virus has completely destroyed the immune system this makes people more susceptible to a wide range of infections with little protection.Sign up for the Explain It to Me newsletterThe newsletter is part of Voxs Explain It to Me. Each week, we tackle a question from our audience and deliver a digestible explainer from one of our journalists. Have a question you want us to answer? Ask us here.HIV spreads through contaminated bodily fluids, usually during sex or when people share needles. Scientists now believe that HIV first spread to humans from infected chimpanzees in Cameroon in Central Africa. The virus spread slowly and sporadically among humans, finding its way to modern-day Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congos bustling capital city. From there, the virus went global, and in 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first documented several cases of what would come to be known as HIV. Since those fateful days, almost 90 million people around the world have been infected with HIV, and more than 40 million have died from the disease. At one point, almost 5 million people became infected with HIV each year, and some 2 million people died annually from it.Today, the outcomes are much better. In 2023, some 600,000 people died from HIV, while just over 1 million people were newly infected with the disease. Scientists and public health officials have developed a slew of medications and interventions to prevent infection or keep the virus so in check that HIV-positive people have no symptoms and can live full, healthy lives. Ending AIDS actually seems feasible. But, despite such incredible progress, HIV remains strong in much of the world. These tools have not been enough and will not be enough to end the epidemic once and for all alone. While more medical interventions, such as a true cure for HIV or a vaccine for the disease (which is likely still years, if not decades, away), would help, this is no longer really a problem of science. Ending the HIV epidemic has been plagued by trying to solve the seemingly insurmountable problem of equity and discrimination.In some places, especially African countries, HIV and complications from it remains one of the leading causes of death. Certain populations gay men, adolescent girls and young women, sex workers, people who use IV drugs, and people in prisons are at a disproportionately high risk of not only becoming infected with HIV but also not receiving adequate treatment.If this were just about developing products, doing the research and development, this epidemic would be over, said Mitchell Warren, the executive director of the international nonprofit AVAC. Its not unique to HIV, but HIV is probably the most glaring example. HIV is an epidemic that is obviously about a virus, but its spread because of inequity, because of stigma, because of discrimination, because of criminalizing behaviors. However, American and European support for the fight against HIV is waning. Governments are slashing critical funding and even considering eliminating key HIV programs such as PEPFAR, or the US Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. But relenting now risks a resurgence of the disease that could threaten not only human lives but economic and political stability as it did when the epidemic first emerged.How far have or havent we come in ending HIV?Warren started his career in HIV in 1993. He was stationed in South Africa as the country was rapidly becoming the epicenter of the HIV epidemic. Patients with HIV wasted away in front of his eyes, he recalled. Roadsides were lined with coffin makers. Every weekend, Warrens colleagues occupied their time traveling from one funeral to the next. At the time, HIV was a death sentence, and the only preventative tool physicians and public health officials had at their disposal was the male condom, which prevents the virus from spreading during intercourse but does nothing to protect drug users or homosexual couples who often dont use condoms because they arent trying to prevent pregnancy. Condoms, of course, also do not prevent pregnant people from passing on the virus to their fetus, another way that HIV can be spread.In the first decade of the epidemic, drug companies created an antiretroviral therapy treatment that keeps the amount of virus in the body known as the viral load at such low levels that the virus couldnt be spread from person to person. While these treatments did help reduce the massive number of HIV deaths, they werent enough to end the epidemic because these early treatments required patients to take dozens of pills a day. (And they were given after someone already had HIV, so they werent preventative.) Even setting aside the sheer cost and numerous side effects of taking that many drugs so frequently, getting patients to take all those pills was a major challenge even in wealthy countries. In places like South Africa and other developing countries with too few medical centers and doctors, distributing and stocking enough drugs and getting them into patients hands was insurmountable. It wasnt until 2006 that pharmaceutical companies developed the one pill, once a day regimen to treat HIV-positive patients, which helped ease logistical and adherence challenges. Then, in 2012, the Food and Drug Administration approved pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, therapy, which allowed people without HIV to take medicines to prevent infection. Though PrEP is not a cheap option it can cost up to $2,000 per patient per month in the US HIV advocates hailed PrEP as a critical tool in the fight against HIV. Along the way, massive HIV programs like PEPFAR rolled out other campaigns and interventions such as promoting safe sex practices, encouraging male circumcision, and rolling out rapid HIV testing services to prevent the spread of HIV. But despite these amazing scientific achievements, HIV remains an enduring challenge not because of science but largely because of stigma, discrimination, and marginalization. While some 20 million people around the world today take HIV medication, about 20 percent of people with HIV cannot access treatment. Gay men, sex workers, and people who use IV drugs are all at higher risk of contracting HIV, but they are often hesitant to seek out testing or treatment because they fear doctors and nurses will treat them poorly, or worse, report them to authorities. Sex work is illegal in at least 100 countries, and IV drug use is illegal in all but about 30 countries. Even homosexuality remains criminalized in 64 countries, including about 30 of 54 African countries, where the HIV burden is highest. The legal challenges have made it difficult for public health officials to implement certain interventions even when we know they work. Giving clean needles to IV drug users, for example, reduces the spread of HIV among drug users and yet is rarely, and even then controversially, implemented in very few countries.Then there is the challenge of gender equality. Adolescent girls and young women are also at a particularly high risk of contracting HIV, especially in certain parts of the world. In 2023, 62 percent of all new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa were among girls and young women. In some parts of these countries, young girls, who lack the agency to insist on safe sex practices, are married to older men who have multiple sexual partners, which increases the risk of HIV transmission. Rape is unfortunately common in regions afflicted by conflict. In other situations, especially in refugee camps or places with limited economic opportunities, girls and women are forced to turn to sex work to survive.We tend to see HIV finding the fault lines in society, Warren explained. This is a virus that is spread by sex and by drug use. Those are two behaviors that have been stigmatized and criminalized not just during 40 years of HIV, but for hundreds and thousands of years.RelatedHow likely is it that we can make more progress against HIV/AIDS?Bridging cultural and logistical divides is what makes public health so challenging. Ive worked in global health for almost 10 years, and I know that achieving public health goals, such as eliminating HIV, isnt simply about inventing and rolling out medicines and interventions but about changing societal practices and cultural beliefs. But short of solving the persistent global challenges of inequality and discrimination, we can do more to ensure people around the world continue to have access to preventative care, testing services, and treatment. To do that, we need money a lot of it. For the past decade, the US government has donated more than $5 billion a year to the global fight against HIV; about half of those funds are routed through PEPFAR. Historically, PEPFAR has enjoyed bipartisan support, but in recent years, politicians particularly from the right have threatened to end or dramatically reduce global health funding to focus on bolstering domestic spending and improving the lives of Americans. Other politicians want to end PEPFAR because some funds are spent to improve and expand access to sexual and reproductive care. HIV is, after all, spread through sex. But the proximity of HIV care to abortion services is too close for many Republican politicians, meaning that, in this rising tide of anti-abortion views, the US government should also end funding for HIV. The fight against HIV is losing momentum around the world. Globally, funding for HIV dropped by about 8 percent from $21.5 billion in 2020 to $19.8 billion in 2023, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS. Between 2022 and 2023, the US and other major donor countries, including the European Commission, reduced their global funding for HIV and seem poised to further cut funding for global health more broadly. The future may be even more bleak: President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the US was cutting ties with the World Health Organization, the UNs health agency that plays a key role in providing HIV treatment and care to millions of people, particularly those in low- and middle-income countries.The simple fact is that if global funds for HIV are reduced, we will see a rise in HIV cases and deaths. The global community has accomplished so much, but the fight is not over.This story was featured in the Explain It to Me newsletter. Sign up here. For more from Explain It to Me, check out the podcast.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Doom goes medieval (Microsoft/Bethesda)The sequel to Doom Eternal is only a few months away according to a new leak, as Xbox gears up for its first Developer Direct of 2025.Beyond the imminent Avowed, Microsofts current slate is full of rather vague release windows, and its still unclear whether Fable or Perfect Dark will actually launch this year.One game that will be making it out sooner rather than later though is Doom: The Dark Ages, which is set to headline Xboxs Developer Direct presentation on Thursday, January 23 at 6pm GMT.While Doom: The Dark Ages currently has a broad 2025 release window, the exact release date seems to have been leaked by a French games website.Here is what we know so far. When could the Doom: The Dark Ages release date be?According to a now-pulled article on Gamekult, which has circulated on ResetEra, developer id Softwares shooter will launch on May 15, 2025. The article also specifically states that this date will be revealed during Microsofts Developer Direct.Gamekult is a long-running video game website which was originally founded in 2000, so its possible they were given a heads-up on the date and published it early by mistake.Doom: The Dark Ages is a sequel to Doom Eternal but its a prequel to 2016s Doom reboot and follows series protagonist, the Doom Slayer, as he takes on the forces of Hell in a medieval setting. Along with Xbox and PC, the game is also set to come out on PlayStation 5.Well find out more about the prequel at tomorrows Xbox Developer Direct, alongside other titles South Of Midnight and Clair Obscura: Expedition 33. A mystery game is also set to be shown, with rumours suggesting it could be anything from a new Ecco The Dolphin to Ninja Gaiden 4.Theres a chance Xbox might have more to show beyond these titles though. According to Insider Gaming, there will be a few other surprises announced at the event beyond these four confirmed games, which might connect to reports of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Gears Of War, and Hellblade 2 going multiplatform.It will certainly be interesting to see if Microsoft makes any reference to the Nintendo Switch 2, which theyve implied theyre keen to support.At last years Xbox Developer Direct, the company debuted new looks at Avowed, Hellblade 2, Ara: History Untold, and Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. It also featured Square Enixs Visions Of Mana, which marked the first time a game from a third party developer was showcased at one of the presentations.More TrendingWhile it might not appear at the Xbox Developer Direct, a remake of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is also strongly rumoured for 2025. Avowed is Microsofts next game (Xbox Game Studios)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy