Freeman Lightner

A leading competition law expert, Professor Barry Rodger, has filed a legal claim worth up to E1.04 billion against Google before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”). Google is accused of abusing its dominant position to the detriment of a large class of thousands of UK app developers who need to use its app marketplace, ‘Play Store’ or ‘Google Play’, to access their customers. The class action lawsuit seeks compensation for the losses in revenues suffered by those individuals and businesses, many of whom are SMEs, from August 2018 onwards.

AI and automation are reshaping the future of work, with AI skills and workforce empowerment being top concerns. By 2026, AI literacy will lead workforce priorities. HR leaders must drive tech adoption, build AI skills, and foster collaboration, as executives plan investments in employee experience and learning.

OpenAI recently announced the development of a new series of AI models designed to spend more time thinking before responding. These models can reason through complex tasks and solve harder problems than previous iterations in science, coding, and math.

The UK Cybersecurity M&A market has grown significantly over the past decade, with the deal volume trend line increasing, and the sector continuing to attract significant investment from Private Equity, alongside larger corporates consolidating emerging technologies to counter increasingly sophisticated threats.

Audiencly, an influencer marketing agency, recently announced Mario Lohe as its new Head of Operations. In this pivotal role, Lohe will drive the company’s strategic growth plans. The 44-year-old brings a wealth of experience in operational management and digital transformation, particularly in implementing disruptive technologies and agile work practices. Prior to joining Audiencly, he served as Director of Operations, Germany at Havas, where he led extensive restructuring initiatives focused on cross-departmental process optimization and the effective use of AI and modern tools.

Google AdSense has released an important update addressing upcoming privacy laws in five US states. With new privacy regulations taking effect in Iowa, Delaware, New Jersey, Nebraska, and New Hampshire in early 2025, AdSense users and publishers will see key changes designed to ensure compliance and transparency.

Trump Media & Technology Group has launched theTruth Social TV streaming app for iOS devices and Apple TV. Now available in the Apple App Store, the app offers news, entertainment, faith-based content, and more, with features like Video on Demand, live TV rewind, and catch-up TV.

Foursquare has announced that it will officially sunset its City Guide app on December 15, 2024, marking the end of an era for the platform that has long served users in discovering local businesses, venues, and attractions. The decision, while difficult, is driven by the company’s intent to concentrate efforts on its companion app, Swarm, which will now become the central focus for users seeking check-ins and location-based engagement.

GitHub has announced a groundbreaking tool, GitHub Spark, designed to empower developers by enabling the creation of web applications through plain English instructions. This innovation marks a significant stride in the evolution of coding, as it allows users to describe the desired functionality of an app in natural language, and the tool translates these descriptions into fully functional code.

Discover how to measure UX and design impact with insights from Vitaly Friedman. The new video course How to Measure UX and Design Impact equips designers with the tools to use KPIs and UX metrics, ensuring design decisions are guided by data, not preference, to enhance business outcomes.