When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Microsoft 365 security in the spotlight after Washington Post hack Paul Hill Neowin @ziks_99 · Jun 16, 2025 03:36 EDT The Washington Post has come under cyberattack which saw Microsoft email accounts of several journalists get compromised. The attack, which was discovered last Thursday, is believed to have been conducted by a foreign government due to the topics the journalists cover, including national security, economic policy, and China. Following the hack, the passwords on the affected accounts were reset to prevent access. The fact that a Microsoft work email account was potentially hacked strongly suggests The Washington Post utilizes Microsoft 365, which makes us question the security of Microsoft’s widely used enterprise services. Given that Microsoft 365 is very popular, it is a hot target for attackers. Microsoft's enterprise security offerings and challenges As the investigation into the cyberattack is still ongoing, just how attackers gained access to the accounts of the journalists is unknown, however, Microsoft 365 does have multiple layers of protection that ought to keep journalists safe. One of the security tools is Microsoft Defender for Office 365. If the hackers tried to gain access with malicious links, Defender provides protection against any malicious attachments, links, or email-based phishing attempts with the Advanced Threat Protection feature. Defender also helps to protect against malware that could be used to target journalists at The Washington Post. Another security measure in place is Entra ID which helps enterprises defend against identity-based attacks. Some key features of Entra ID include multi-factor authentication which protects accounts even if a password is compromised, and there are granular access policies that help to limit logins from outside certain locations, unknown devices, or limit which apps can be used. While Microsoft does offer plenty of security technologies with M365, hacks can still take place due to misconfiguration, user-error, or through the exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities. Essentially, it requires efforts from both Microsoft and the customer to maintain security. Lessons for organizations using Microsoft 365 The incident over at The Washington Post serves as a stark reminder that all organizations, not just news organizations, should audit and strengthen their security setups. Some of the most important security measures you can put in place include mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users, especially for privileged accounts; strong password rules such as using letters, numbers, and symbols; regular security awareness training; and installing any security updates in a timely manner. Many of the cyberattacks that we learn about from companies like Microsoft involve hackers taking advantage of the human in the equation, such as being tricked into sharing passwords or sharing sensitive information due to trickery on behalf of the hackers. This highlights that employee training is crucial in protecting systems and that Microsoft’s technologies, as advanced as they are, can’t mitigate all attacks 100 percent of the time. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” the famed computer scientist Alan Kay once said. Uttered more out of exasperation than as inspiration, his remark has nevertheless attained gospel-like status among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, in particular a handful of tech billionaires who fancy themselves the chief architects of humanity’s future.  Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and others may have slightly different goals and ambitions in the near term, but their grand visions for the next decade and beyond are remarkably similar. Framed less as technological objectives and more as existential imperatives, they include aligning AI with the interests of humanity; creating an artificial superintelligence that will solve all the world’s most pressing problems; merging with that superintelligence to achieve immortality (or something close to it); establishing a permanent, self-­sustaining colony on Mars; and, ultimately, spreading out across the cosmos. While there’s a sprawling patchwork of ideas and philosophies powering these visions, three features play a central role, says Adam Becker, a science writer and astrophysicist: an unshakable certainty that technology can solve any problem, a belief in the necessity of perpetual growth, and a quasi-religious obsession with transcending our physical and biological limits. In his timely new book, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity, Becker calls this triumvirate of beliefs the “ideology of technological salvation” and warns that tech titans are using it to steer humanity in a dangerous direction.  “In most of these isms you’ll find the idea of escape and transcendence, as well as the promise of an amazing future, full of unimaginable wonders—so long as we don’t get in the way of technological progress.” “The credence that tech billionaires give to these specific science-fictional futures validates their pursuit of more—to portray the growth of their businesses as a moral imperative, to reduce the complex problems of the world to simple questions of technology, [and] to justify nearly any action they might want to take,” he writes. Becker argues that the only way to break free of these visions is to see them for what they are: a convenient excuse to continue destroying the environment, skirt regulations, amass more power and control, and dismiss the very real problems of today to focus on the imagined ones of tomorrow.  A lot of critics, academics, and journalists have tried to define or distill the Silicon Valley ethos over the years. There was the “Californian Ideology” in the mid-’90s, the “Move fast and break things” era of the early 2000s, and more recently the “Libertarianism for me, feudalism for thee”  or “techno-­authoritarian” views. How do you see the “ideology of technological salvation” fitting in?  I’d say it’s very much of a piece with those earlier attempts to describe the Silicon Valley mindset. I mean, you can draw a pretty straight line from Max More’s principles of transhumanism in the ’90s to the Californian Ideology [a mashup of countercultural, libertarian, and neoliberal values] and through to what I call the ideology of technological salvation. The fact is, many of the ideas that define or animate Silicon Valley thinking have never been much of a ­mystery—libertarianism, an antipathy toward the government and regulation, the boundless faith in technology, the obsession with optimization.  What can be difficult is to parse where all these ideas come from and how they fit together—or if they fit together at all. I came up with the ideology of technological salvation as a way to name and give shape to a group of interrelated concepts and philosophies that can seem sprawling and ill-defined at first, but that actually sit at the center of a worldview shared by venture capitalists, executives, and other thought leaders in the tech industry.  Readers will likely be familiar with the tech billionaires featured in your book and at least some of their ambitions. I’m guessing they’ll be less familiar with the various “isms” that you argue have influenced or guided their thinking. Effective altruism, rationalism, long­termism, extropianism, effective accelerationism, futurism, singularitarianism, ­transhumanism—there are a lot of them. Is there something that they all share?  They’re definitely connected. In a sense, you could say they’re all versions or instantiations of the ideology of technological salvation, but there are also some very deep historical connections between the people in these groups and their aims and beliefs. The Extropians in the late ’80s believed in self-­transformation through technology and freedom from limitations of any kind—ideas that Ray Kurzweil eventually helped popularize and legitimize for a larger audience with the Singularity.  In most of these isms you’ll find the idea of escape and transcendence, as well as the promise of an amazing future, full of unimaginable wonders—so long as we don’t get in the way of technological progress. I should say that AI researcher Timnit Gebru and philosopher Émile Torres have also done a lot of great work linking these ideologies to one another and showing how they all have ties to racism, misogyny, and eugenics. You argue that the Singularity is the purest expression of the ideology of technological salvation. How so? Well, for one thing, it’s just this very simple, straightforward idea—the Singularity is coming and will occur when we merge our brains with the cloud and expand our intelligence a millionfold. This will then deepen our awareness and consciousness and everything will be amazing. In many ways, it’s a fantastical vision of a perfect technological utopia. We’re all going to live as long as we want in an eternal paradise, watched over by machines of loving grace, and everything will just get exponentially better forever. The end. The other isms I talk about in the book have a little more … heft isn’t the right word—they just have more stuff going on. There’s more to them, right? The rationalists and the effective altruists and the longtermists—they think that something like a singularity will happen, or could happen, but that there’s this really big danger between where we are now and that potential event. We have to address the fact that an all-powerful AI might destroy humanity—the so-called alignment problem—before any singularity can happen.  Then you’ve got the effective accelerationists, who are more like Kurzweil, but they’ve got more of a tech-bro spin on things. They’ve taken some of the older transhumanist ideas from the Singularity and updated them for startup culture. Marc Andreessen’s “Techno-Optimist Manifesto” [from 2023] is a good example. You could argue that all of these other philosophies that have gained purchase in Silicon Valley are just twists on Kurzweil’s Singularity, each one building on top of the core ideas of transcendence, techno­-optimism, and exponential growth.  Early on in the book you take aim at that idea of exponential growth—specifically, Kurzweil’s “Law of Accelerating Returns.” Could you explain what that is and why you think it’s flawed? Kurzweil thinks there’s this immutable “Law of Accelerating Returns” at work in the affairs of the universe, especially when it comes to technology. It’s the idea that technological progress isn’t linear but exponential. Advancements in one technology fuel even more rapid advancements in the future, which in turn lead to greater complexity and greater technological power, and on and on. This is just a mistake. Kurzweil uses the Law of Accelerating Returns to explain why the Singularity is inevitable, but to be clear, he’s far from the only one who believes in this so-called law. “I really believe that when you get as rich as some of these guys are, you can just do things that seem like thinking and no one is really going to correct you or tell you things you don’t want to hear.” My sense is that it’s an idea that comes from staring at Moore’s Law for too long. Moore’s Law is of course the famous prediction that the number of transistors on a chip will double roughly every two years, with a minimal increase in cost. Now, that has in fact happened for the last 50 years or so, but not because of some fundamental law in the universe. It’s because the tech industry made a choice and some very sizable investments to make it happen. Moore’s Law was ultimately this really interesting observation or projection of a historical trend, but even Gordon Moore [who first articulated it] knew that it wouldn’t and couldn’t last forever. In fact, some think it’s already over.  These ideologies take inspiration from some pretty unsavory characters. Transhumanism, you say, was first popularized by the eugenicist Julian Huxley in a speech in 1951. Marc Andreessen’s “Techno-Optimist Manifesto” name-checks the noted fascist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and his futurist manifesto. Did you get the sense while researching the book that the tech titans who champion these ideas understand their dangerous origins? You’re assuming in the framing of that question that there’s any rigorous thought going on here at all. As I say in the book, Andreessen’s manifesto runs almost entirely on vibes, not logic. I think someone may have told him about the futurist manifesto at some point, and he just sort of liked the general vibe, which is why he paraphrases a part of it. Maybe he learned something about Marinetti and forgot it. Maybe he didn’t care.  I really believe that when you get as rich as some of these guys are, you can just do things that seem like thinking and no one is really going to correct you or tell you things you don’t want to hear. For many of these billionaires, the vibes of fascism, authoritarianism, and colonialism are attractive because they’re fundamentally about creating a fantasy of control.  You argue that these visions of the future are being used to hasten environmental destruction, increase authoritarianism, and exacerbate inequalities. You also admit that they appeal to lots of people who aren’t billionaires. Why do you think that is?  I think a lot of us are also attracted to these ideas for the same reasons the tech billionaires are—they offer this fantasy of knowing what the future holds, of transcending death, and a sense that someone or something out there is in control. It’s hard to overstate how comforting a simple, coherent narrative can be in an increasingly complex and fast-moving world. This is of course what religion offers for many of us, and I don’t think it’s an accident that a sizable number of people in the rationalist and effective altruist communities are actually ex-evangelicals. More than any one specific technology, it seems like the most consequential thing these billionaires have invented is a sense of inevitability—that their visions for the future are somehow predestined. How does one fight against that? It’s a difficult question. For me, the answer was to write this book. I guess I’d also say this: Silicon Valley enjoyed well over a decade with little to no pushback on anything. That’s definitely a big part of how we ended up in this mess. There was no regulation, very little critical coverage in the press, and a lot of self-mythologizing going on. Things have started to change, especially as the social and environmental damage that tech companies and industry leaders have helped facilitate has become more clear. That understanding is an essential part of deflating the power of these tech billionaires and breaking free of their visions. When we understand that these dreams of the future are actually nightmares for the rest of us, I think you’ll see that senseof inevitability vanish pretty fast.  This interview was edited for length and clarity. Bryan Gardiner is a writer based in Oakland, California. 

8 Stunning Sunset Color Palettes Zoe Santoro •  In this article:See more ▼Post may contain affiliate links which give us commissions at no cost to you.There’s something absolutely magical about watching the sun dip below the horizon, painting the sky in breathtaking hues that seem almost too beautiful to be real. As a designer, I find myself constantly inspired by these natural masterpieces that unfold before us every evening. The way warm oranges melt into soft pinks, how deep purples blend seamlessly with golden yellows – it’s like nature’s own masterclass in color theory. If you’re looking to infuse your next project with the warmth, romance, and natural beauty of a perfect sunset, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve curated eight of the most captivating sunset color palettes that will bring that golden hour magic directly into your designs. 👋 Psst... Did you know you can get unlimited downloads of 59,000+ fonts and millions of other creative assets for just $16.95/mo? Learn more »The 8 Most Breathtaking Sunset Color Palettes 1. Golden Hour Glow #FFD700 #FF8C00 #FF6347 #CD5C5C Download this color palette 735×1102 Pinterest image 2160×3840 Vertical wallpaper 900×900 Square 3840×2160 4K Wallpaper This palette captures that perfect moment when everything seems to be touched by liquid gold. The warm yellows transition beautifully into rich oranges and soft coral reds, creating a sense of warmth and optimism that’s impossible to ignore. I find this combination works wonderfully for brands that want to evoke feelings of happiness, energy, and positivity. 2. Tropical Paradise #FF69B4 #FF1493 #FF8C00 #FFD700 Download this color palette 735×1102 Pinterest image 2160×3840 Vertical wallpaper 900×900 Square 3840×2160 4K Wallpaper Inspired by those incredible sunsets you see in tropical destinations, this vibrant palette combines hot pinks with brilliant oranges and golden yellows. It’s bold, it’s energetic, and it’s perfect for projects that need to make a statement. I love using these colors for summer campaigns or anything that needs to capture that vacation feeling. 3. Desert Dreams #CD853F #D2691E #B22222 #8B0000 Download this color palette 735×1102 Pinterest image 2160×3840 Vertical wallpaper 900×900 Square 3840×2160 4K Wallpaper Get 300+ Fonts for FREEEnter your email to download our 100% free "Font Lover's Bundle". For commercial & personal use. No royalties. No fees. No attribution. 100% free to use anywhere. The American Southwest produces some of the most spectacular sunsets on earth, and this palette pays homage to those incredible desert skies. The earthy browns blend into warm oranges before deepening into rich reds and burgundies. This combination brings a sense of grounding and authenticity that works beautifully for rustic or heritage brands. 4. Pastel Evening #FFE4E1 #FFA07A #F0E68C #DDA0DD Download this color palette 735×1102 Pinterest image 2160×3840 Vertical wallpaper 900×900 Square 3840×2160 4K Wallpaper Not every sunset needs to be bold and dramatic. This softer palette captures those gentle, dreamy evenings when the sky looks like it’s been painted with watercolors. The delicate pinks, peaches, and lavenders create a romantic, ethereal feeling that’s perfect for wedding designs, beauty brands, or any project that needs a touch of feminine elegance. 5. Coastal Sunset #fae991 #FF7F50 #FF6347 #4169E1 #1E90FF Download this color palette 735×1102 Pinterest image 2160×3840 Vertical wallpaper 900×900 Square 3840×2160 4K Wallpaper There’s something special about watching the sun set over the ocean, where warm oranges and corals meet the deep blues of the sea and sky. This palette captures that perfect contrast between warm and cool tones. I find it creates a sense of adventure and wanderlust that’s ideal for travel brands or outdoor companies. 6. Urban Twilight #ffeda3 #fdad52 #fc8a6e #575475 #111f2a Download this color palette 735×1102 Pinterest image 2160×3840 Vertical wallpaper 900×900 Square 3840×2160 4K Wallpaper As the sun sets behind city skylines, you get these incredible contrasts between deep purples and vibrant oranges. This sophisticated palette brings together the mystery of twilight with the warmth of the setting sun. It’s perfect for creating designs that feel both modern and dramatic. 7. Autumn Harvest #FF4500 #FF8C00 #DAA520 #8B4513 Download this color palette 735×1102 Pinterest image 2160×3840 Vertical wallpaper 900×900 Square 3840×2160 4K Wallpaper This palette captures those perfect fall evenings when the sunset seems to echo the changing leaves. The deep oranges and golden yellows create a cozy, inviting feeling that’s perfect for seasonal campaigns or brands that want to evoke comfort and tradition. 8. Fire Sky #652220 #DC143C #FF0000 #FF4500 #FF8C00 Download this color palette 735×1102 Pinterest image 2160×3840 Vertical wallpaper 900×900 Square 3840×2160 4K Wallpaper Sometimes nature puts on a show that’s so intense it takes your breath away. This bold, fiery palette captures those dramatic sunsets that look like the sky is literally on fire. It’s not for the faint of heart, but when you need maximum impact and energy, these colors deliver in spades. Why Sunset Colors Never Go Out of Style Before we explore how to use these palettes effectively, let’s talk about why sunset colors have such enduring appeal in design. There’s something deeply ingrained in human psychology that responds to these warm, glowing hues. They remind us of endings and beginnings, of peaceful moments and natural beauty. From a design perspective, sunset colors offer incredible versatility. They can be bold and energetic or soft and romantic. They work equally well for corporate branding and personal projects. And perhaps most importantly, they’re inherently optimistic – they make people feel good. I’ve found that incorporating sunset-inspired colors into modern projects adds an instant sense of warmth and approachability that resonates with audiences across all demographics. Whether you’re working on packaging design, web interfaces, or environmental graphics, these palettes can help create an emotional connection that goes beyond mere aesthetics. How to Master Sunset Palettes in Contemporary Design Using sunset colors effectively requires more than just picking pretty hues and hoping for the best. Here are some strategies I’ve developed for incorporating these palettes into modern design work: Start with Temperature Balance One of the most important aspects of working with sunset palettes is understanding color temperature. Most sunset combinations naturally include both warm and cool elements – the warm oranges and yellows of the sun itself, balanced by the cooler purples and blues of the surrounding sky. Maintaining this temperature balance keeps your designs from feeling flat or monotonous. Layer for Depth Real sunsets have incredible depth and dimension, with colors layering and blending into each other. Try to recreate this in your designs by using gradients, overlays, or layered elements rather than flat blocks of color. This approach creates visual interest and mimics the natural way these colors appear in nature. Consider Context and Contrast While sunset colors are beautiful, they need to work within the context of your overall design. Pay attention to readability – text needs sufficient contrast against sunset backgrounds. Consider using neutrals like deep charcoal or cream to provide breathing room and ensure your message remains clear. Embrace Gradual Transitions The magic of a sunset lies in how colors flow seamlessly from one to another. Incorporate this principle into your designs through smooth gradients, subtle color shifts, or elements that bridge between different hues in your palette. The Science Behind Our Sunset Obsession As someone who’s spent years studying color psychology, I’m fascinated by why sunset colors have such universal appeal. Research suggests that warm colors like those found in sunsets trigger positive emotional responses and can even increase feelings of comfort and security. There’s also the association factor – sunsets are linked in our minds with relaxation, beauty, and positive experiences. When we see these colors in design, we unconsciously associate them with those same positive feelings. This makes sunset palettes particularly effective for brands that want to create emotional connections with their audiences. The cyclical nature of sunsets also plays a role. They happen every day, marking the transition from activity to rest, from work to leisure. This gives sunset colors a sense of familiarity and comfort that few other color combinations can match. Applying Sunset Palettes Across Design Disciplines One of the things I love most about sunset color palettes is how adaptable they are across different types of design work: Brand Identity Design Sunset colors can help brands convey warmth, optimism, and approachability. I’ve used variations of these palettes for everything from artisanal food companies to wellness brands. The key is choosing the right intensity level for your brand’s personality – softer palettes for more refined brands, bolder combinations for companies that want to make a statement. Digital Design In web and app design, sunset colors can create interfaces that feel warm and inviting rather than cold and clinical. I often use these palettes for backgrounds, accent elements, or call-to-action buttons. The natural flow between colors makes them perfect for creating smooth user experiences that guide the eye naturally through content. Print and Packaging Sunset palettes really shine in print applications where you can take advantage of rich, saturated colors. They work beautifully for packaging design, particularly for products associated with warmth, comfort, or natural ingredients. The key is ensuring your color reproduction is accurate – sunset colors can look muddy if not handled properly in print. Environmental Design In spaces, sunset colors can create incredibly welcoming environments. I’ve seen these palettes used effectively in restaurants, retail spaces, and even corporate offices where the goal is to create a sense of warmth and community. Seasonal Considerations and Trending Applications While sunset colors are timeless, they do have natural seasonal associations that smart designers can leverage. The warmer, more intense sunset palettes work beautifully for fall and winter campaigns, while the softer, more pastel variations are perfect for spring and summer applications. I’ve noticed a growing trend toward using sunset palettes in unexpected contexts – tech companies embracing warm gradients, financial services using sunset colors to appear more approachable, and healthcare brands incorporating these hues to create more comforting environments. Conclusion: Bringing Natural Beauty Into Modern Design As we’ve explored these eight stunning sunset color palettes, I hope you’ve gained new appreciation for the incredible design potential that nature provides us every single day. These colors aren’t just beautiful – they’re powerful tools for creating emotional connections, conveying brand values, and making designs that truly resonate with people. The secret to successfully using sunset palettes lies in understanding both their emotional impact and their technical requirements. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different combinations and intensities, but always keep your audience and context in mind. Remember, the best sunset colors aren’t just about picking the prettiest hues – they’re about capturing the feeling of those magical moments when day transitions to night. Whether you’re creating a logo that needs to convey warmth and trust, designing a website that should feel welcoming and approachable, or developing packaging that needs to stand out on crowded shelves, these sunset-inspired palettes offer endless possibilities. So the next time you catch yourself stopped in your tracks by a particularly stunning sunset, take a moment to really study those colors. Notice how they blend and flow, how they make you feel, and how they change as the light shifts. Then bring that natural magic into your next design project. After all, if nature can create such breathtaking color combinations every single day, imagine what we can achieve when we learn from the master. Happy designing! Zoe Santoro Zoe is an art student and graphic designer with a passion for creativity and adventure. Whether she’s sketching in a cozy café or capturing inspiration from vibrant cityscapes, she finds beauty in every corner of the world. With a love for bold colors, clean design, and storytelling through visuals, Zoe blends her artistic skills with her wanderlust to create stunning, travel-inspired designs. Follow her journey as she explores new places, discovers fresh inspiration, and shares her creative process along the way. 10 Warm Color Palettes That’ll Brighten Your DayThere’s nothing quite like the embracing quality of warm colors to make a design feel inviting and alive. As someone...These 1920s Color Palettes are ‘Greater than Gatsby’There’s something undeniably captivating about the color schemes of the Roaring Twenties. As a designer with a passion for historical...How Fonts Influence Tone and Clarity in Animated VideosAudiences interact differently with messages based on which fonts designers choose to use within a text presentation. Fonts shape how...

I was recently playing Star Wars Battlefront as it recently gained popularity again, so I decided to make a fan trailer! Hopefully we'll see Star Wars Battlefront 3 in the future! This trailer was inspired by the loading screen of Battlefront 2. This was created using Blender + Nuke together. Song credit to Sam Kim and Lucasfilm. This video is not linked to Electronic Arts, Lucasfilm, or related to Battlefront in any official capacity. -------------- Haven't learned Nuke yet and you want to make your shots look feature film level? Learn Here with our Nuke Fundamentals Series 👉 https://www.compositingacademy.com/nuke-compositing-career-starter-bundle Want the VFX Assets or plugins featured in our videos? (Smoke, Lens Dirt, etc!): Check it out here:👉 https://www.compositingacademy.com/vfxassets

Artificial intelligence is already rewriting the rules of wireless and telecom — powering predictive maintenance, streamlining network operations, and enabling more innovative services. As AI scales, the disruption will be faster, deeper, and harder to reverse than any prior shift in the industry. Compared to the sweeping changes AI is set to unleash, past telecom innovations look incremental. AI is redefining how networks operate, services are delivered, and data is secured — across every device and digital touchpoint. AI Is Reshaping Wireless Networks Already Artificial intelligence is already transforming wireless through smarter private networks, fixed wireless access (FWA), and intelligent automation across the stack. AI detects and resolves network issues before they impact service, improving uptime and customer satisfaction. It’s also opening the door to entirely new revenue streams and business models. Each wireless generation brought new capabilities. AI, however, marks a more profound shift — networks that think, respond, and evolve in real time. AI Acceleration Will Outpace Past Tech Shifts Many may underestimate the speed and magnitude of AI-driven change. The shift from traditional voice and data systems to AI-driven network intelligence is already underway. Although predictions abound, the true scope remains unclear. It’s tempting to assume we understand AI’s trajectory, but history suggests otherwise. Today, AI is already automating maintenance and optimizing performance without user disruption. The technologies we’ll rely on in the near future may still be on the drawing board. Few predicted that smartphones would emerge from analog beginnings—a reminder of how quickly foundational technologies can be reimagined. History shows that disruptive technologies rarely follow predictable paths — and AI is no exception. It’s already upending business models across industries. Technological shifts bring both new opportunities and complex trade-offs. AI Disruption Will Move Faster Than Ever The same cycle of reinvention is happening now — but with AI, it’s moving at unprecedented speed. Despite all the discussion, many still treat AI as a future concern — yet the shift is already well underway. As with every major technological leap, there will be gains and losses. The AI transition brings clear trade-offs: efficiency and innovation on one side, job displacement, and privacy erosion on the other. Unlike past tech waves that unfolded over decades, the AI shift will reshape industries in just a few years — and that change wave will only continue to move forward. AI Will Reshape All Sectors and Companies This shift will unfold faster than most organizations or individuals are prepared to handle. Today’s industries will likely look very different tomorrow. Entirely new sectors will emerge as legacy models become obsolete — redefining market leadership across industries. Telecom’s past holds a clear warning: market dominance can vanish quickly when companies ignore disruption. Eventually, the Baby Bells moved into long-distance service, while AT&T remained barred from selling local access — undermining its advantage. As the market shifted and competitors gained ground, AT&T lost its dominance and became vulnerable enough that SBC, a former regional Bell, acquired it and took on its name. It’s a case study of how incumbents fall when they fail to adapt — precisely the kind of pressure AI is now exerting across industries. SBC’s acquisition of AT&T flipped the power dynamic — proof that size doesn’t protect against disruption. The once-crowded telecom field has consolidated into just a few dominant players — each facing new threats from AI-native challengers. Legacy telecom models are being steadily displaced by faster, more flexible wireless, broadband, and streaming alternatives. No Industry Is Immune From AI Disruption AI will accelerate the next wave of industrial evolution — bringing innovations and consequences we’re only beginning to grasp. New winners will emerge as past leaders struggle to hang on — a shift that will also reshape the investment landscape. Startups leveraging AI will likely redefine leadership in sectors where incumbents have grown complacent. Nvidia’s rise is part of a broader trend: the next market leaders will emerge wherever AI creates a clear competitive advantage — whether in chips, code, or entirely new markets. The AI-driven future is arriving faster than most organizations are ready for. Adapting to this accelerating wave of change is no longer optional — it’s essential. Companies that act decisively today will define the winners of tomorrow.

In 2024, Egypt completed its 1,155km stretch of the Cairo–Cape Town Highway, a 10,228km‑long road connecting 10 African countries – Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.   The imaginary of ‘Cape to Cairo’ is not new. In 1874, editor of the Daily Telegraph Edwin Arnold proposed a plan to connect the African continent by rail, a project that came to be known as the Cape to Cairo Railway project. Cecil Rhodes expressed his support for the project, seeing it as a means to connect the various ‘possessions’ of the British Empire across Africa, facilitating the movement of troops and natural resources. This railway project was never completed, and in 1970 was overlaid by a very different attempt at connecting the Cape to Cairo, as part of the Trans‑African Highway network. This 56,683km‑long system of highways – some dating from the colonial era, some built as part of the 1970s project, and some only recently built – aimed to create lines of connection across the African continent, from north to south as well as east to west.  Here, postcolonial state power invested in ‘moving the continent’s people and economies from past to future’, as architectural historians Kenny Cupers and Prita Meier write in their 2020 essay ‘Infrastructure between Statehood and Selfhood: The Trans‑African Highway’. The highways were to be built with the support of Kenya’s president Jomo Kenyatta, Ghana’s president Kwame Nkrumah and Ghana’s director of social welfare Robert Gardiner, as well as the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). This project was part of a particular historical moment during which anticolonial ideas animated most of the African continent; alongside trade, this iteration of Cape to Cairo centred social and cultural connection between African peoples. But though largely socialist in ambition, the project nevertheless engaged modernist developmentalist logics that cemented capitalism.  Lead image: Over a century in the making, the final stretches of the Cairo–Cape Town Highway are being finished. Egypt completed the section within its borders last year and a section over the dry Merille River in Kenya was constructed in 2019. Credit: Allan Muturi / SOPA / ZUMA / Alamy. Above: The route from Cairo to Cape Town, outlined in red, belongs to the Trans‑African Highway network, which comprises nine routes, here in black The project failed to fully materialise at the time, but efforts to complete the Trans‑African Highway network have been revived in the last 20 years; large parts are now complete though some links remain unbuilt and many roads are unpaved or hazardous. The most recent attempts to realise this project coincide with a new continental free trade agreement, the agreement on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), established in 2019, to increase trade within the continent. The contemporary manifestation of the Cairo–Cape Town Highway – also known as Trans‑African Highway (TAH) 4 – is marked by deepening neoliberal politics. Represented as an opportunity to boost trade and exports, connecting Egypt to African markets that the Egyptian government view as ‘untapped’, the project invokes notions of trade steeped in extraction, reflecting the neoliberal logic underpinning contemporary Egyptian governance; today, the country’s political project, led by Abdel Fattah El Sisi, is oriented towards Egyptian dominance and extraction in relation to the rest of the continent.  Through an allusion to markets ripe for extraction, this language brings to the fore historical forms of domination that have shaped the connections between Egypt and the rest of the continent; previous iterations of connection across the continent often reproduced forms of domination stretching from the north of the African continent to the south, including the Trans‑Saharan slave trade routes across Africa that ended in various North African and Middle Eastern territories. These networks, beginning in the 8th century and lasting until the 20th, produced racialised hierarchies across the continent, shaping North Africa into a comparably privileged space proximate to ‘Arabness’. This was a racialised division based on a civilisational narrative that saw Arabs as superior, but more importantly a political economic division resulting from the slave trade routes that produced huge profits for North Africa and the Middle East. In the contemporary moment, these racialised hierarchies are bound up in political economic dependency on the Arab Gulf states, who are themselves dependent on resource extraction, land grabbing and privatisation across the entire African continent.  ‘The Cairo–Cape Town Highway connects Egypt to African markets viewed as “untapped”, invoking notions steeped in extraction’ However, this imaginary conjured by the Cairo–Cape Town Highway is countered by a network of streets scattered across Africa that traces the web of Egyptian Pan‑African solidarity across the continent. In Lusaka in Zambia, you might find yourself on Nasser Road, as you might in Mwanza in Tanzania or Luanda in Angola. In Mombasa in Kenya, you might be driving down Abdel Nasser Road; in Kampala in Uganda, you might find yourself at Nasser Road University; and in Tunis in Tunisia, you might end up on Gamal Abdel Nasser Street. These street names are a reference to Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt’s first postcolonial leader and president between 1956 and 1970.  Read against the contemporary Cairo–Cape Town Highway, these place names signal a different form of connection that brings to life Egyptian Pan‑Africanism, when solidarity was the hegemonic force connecting the continent, coming up against the notion of a natural or timeless ‘great divide’ within Africa. From the memoirs of Egyptian officials who were posted around Africa as conduits of solidarity, to the broadcasts of Radio Cairo that were heard across the continent, to the various conferences attended by anticolonial movements and postcolonial states, Egypt’s orientation towards Pan‑Africanism, beginning in the early 20th century and lasting until the 1970s, was both material and ideological. Figures and movements forged webs of solidarity with their African comrades, imagining an Africa that was united through shared commitments to ending colonialism and capitalist extraction.  The route between Cape Town in South Africa and Cairo in Egypt has long occupied the colonial imaginary. In 1930, Margaret Belcher and Ellen Budgell made the journey, sponsored by car brand Morris and oil company Shell Credit: Fox Photos / Getty The pair made use of the road built by British colonisers in the 19th century, and which forms the basis for the current Cairo–Cape Town Highway. The road was preceded by the 1874 Cape to Cairo Railway project, which connected the colonies of the British Empire Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division This network of eponymous streets represents attempts to inscribe anticolonial power into the materiality of the city. Street‑naming practices are one way in which the past comes into the present, ‘weaving history into the geographic fabric of everyday life’, as geographer Derek Alderman wrote in his 2002 essay ‘Street Names as Memorial Arenas’. In this vein, the renaming of streets during decolonisation marked a practice of contesting the production of colonial space. In the newly postcolonial city, renaming was a way of ‘claiming the city back’, Alderman continues. While these changes may appear discursive, it is their embedding in material spaces, through signs and maps, that make the names come to life; place names become a part of the everyday through sharing addresses or giving directions. This quality makes them powerful; consciously or unconsciously, they form part of how the spaces of the city are navigated.  These are traces that were once part of a dominant historical narrative; yet when they are encountered in the present, during a different historical moment, they no longer act as expressions of power but instead conjure up a moment that has long passed. A street in Lusaka named after an Egyptian general made more sense 60 years ago than it does today, yet contextualising it recovers a marginalised history of Egyptian Pan‑Africanism.  Markers such as street names or monuments are simultaneously markers of anticolonial struggle as well as expressions of state power – part of an attempt, by political projects such as Nasser’s, to exert their own dominance over cities, towns and villages. That such traces are expressions of both anticolonial hopes and postcolonial state power produces a sense of tension within them. For instance, Nasser’s postcolonial project in Egypt was a contradictory one; it gave life to anticolonial hopes – for instance by breaking away from European capitalism and embracing anticolonial geopolitics – while crushing many parts of the left through repression, censorship and imprisonment. Traces of Nasser found today inscribe both anticolonial promises – those that came to life and those that did not – while reproducing postcolonial power that in most instances ended in dictatorship.  Recent efforts to complete the route build on those of the post‑independence era – work on a section north of Nairobi started in 1968 Credit: Associated Press / Alamy The Trans‑African Highway network was conceived in 1970 in the spirit of Pan‑Africanism At that time, the routes did not extend into South Africa, which was in the grip of apartheid. The Trans‑African Highway initiative was motivated by a desire to improve trade and centre cultural links across the continent – an ambition that was even celebrated on postage stamps There have been long‑standing debates about the erasure of the radical anticolonial spirit from the more conservative postcolonial states that emerged; the promises and hopes of anticolonialism, not least among them socialism and a world free of white supremacy, remain largely unrealised. Instead, by the 1970s neoliberalism emerged as a new hegemonic project. The contemporary instantiation of Cape to Cairo highlights just how pervasive neoliberal logics continue to be, despite multiple global financial crises and the 2011 Egyptian revolution demanding ‘bread, freedom, social justice’.  But the network of streets named after anticolonial figures and events across the world is testament to the immense power and promise of anticolonial revolution. Most of the 20th century was characterised by anticolonial struggle, decolonisation and postcolonial nation‑building, as nations across the global south gained independence from European empire and founded their own political projects. Anticolonial traces, present in street and place names, point to the possibility of solidarity as a means of reorienting colonial geographies. They are a reminder that there have been other imaginings of Cape to Cairo, and that things can be – and have been – otherwise. 2025-06-13 Kristina Rapacki Share

TechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.SAG-AFTRA proposed AI protections will let performers send their digital replicas on strikeSAG-AFTRA proposed AI protections will let performers send their digital replicas on strikeA tentative agreement proposed by the union will also require game studios to secure informed consent from performers when using AI.Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, NewsJune 13, 20251 Min ReadImage via SAG-AFTRAPerformer union SAG-AFTRA has outlined what sort of AI protections have been secured through its new-look Interactive Media Agreement (IMA).The union, which this week suspended a year-long strike after finally agreeing terms with game studios signed to the IMA, said the new contract includes "important guardrails and gains around AI" such as the need for informed consent when deploying AI tech and the ability for performers to suspend consent for Digital Replicas during a strike—effectively sending their digital counterparts to the picket line.Compensation gains include the need for collectively-bargained minimums covering the use of Digital Replicas created with IMA-covered performances and higher minimums (7.5x scale) for what SAG-AFTRA calls "Real Time Generation," which is when a Digital Replica-voiced chatbot might be embedded in a video game.Secondary Performance Payments will also require studios to compensate performers when visual performances are reused in additional projects. The tentative agreement has already been approved by the SAG-AFTRA National Board and has now been submitted to union members for ratification.If ratified, it will also provide compounded compensation increases at a rate of 15.17 percent plus additional 3 percent increases in November 2025, November 2026, and November 2027. In addition, the overtime rate maximum for overscale performers will be based on double scale.Related:The full terms off the three-year deal will be released on June 18 alongside other ratification materials. Eligible SAG-AFTRA members will have until 5pm PDT on Wednesday, July 9, to vote on the agreement. Read more about:Labor & UnionizationAbout the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

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