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Last June, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky took on a second job. Microsoft, the social network for business professionals owner since 2016, expanded his responsibilities to include Microsoft 365the suite still better known by its former name, Microsoft Officeand its Copilot AI assistant. The role charges him with making AI useful in a productivity context, a goal thats still very much a work in progress.But Roslansky also remains in charge of LinkedIn, a place whose entire reason for being springs from the network effect of its billion-plus members. Their unique connections, learnings, and willingness to help other people cant be fed into an LLM and reprocessed into the kind of generic advice a chatbot can spout. In a world of increasingly commodified information, Roslansky argues that LinkedIns essential humanity is more essential than ever.Trusted, contextual, expert-driven knowledgethe type of stuff that comes from having a lived experience or doing a specific job or having a deep insight or knowing people that have actually done the jobin my view, thats becoming much more valuable, not less, he says. I think the question moving forward from professionals isn’t just going to be something like, What’s the answer?, but Who can I trust to guide me? And that’s where we come in.Still, once you venture beyond your core LinkedIn contacts, its never been all that easy to tap into the power of your network. We’ve always had, what I’ll call decent, keyword-based lexical people search that allows you to type someone’s name if you know them, says Roslansky. We did a decent job at name-plus-company. But even if you were seeking a particular kind of advice or favor that a friend of a friend (or a friend of a friend of a friend) might have been happy to dispense, there was no guarantee youd be able to track them down with keywords and filters.Now LinkedIn is taking a major step to address that. A new feature called AI-powered people search uses generative AI to break past the limitations of conventional search. It understands requests such as investors with FDA experience for a biotech startup, Northwestern alumni who work in entertainment marketing, teachers turned industrial designers, and who can help me raise money for a nonprofit? The results it returns include relevant profiles regardless of the exact words you used to phrase the search.[Animation: Courtesy of LinkedIn]AI-powered people search is rolling out first to members who pay for LinkedIn Premium accounts, but the company says it will eventually be available to all users. It follows the AI-powered job search feature introduced earlier this year, which Rolansky notes can understand open-ended asks such as I want to help bring humanity to Mars or I want to work on AI products with my finance skills.Using technology thats very 2025, these features deliver on the promise of the nearly 23-year-old sites original vision thatas an early tagline put itrelationships matter. Members who have managed to rack up hundreds of connections over the years might find new value in visiting the site more regularly and diving deeper.The company was founded on the idea that if we were able to build a valuable community, that any professional can become more productive and successful through other people in their network, says Roslansky. When you can leverage AI to reason over that network of people, it opens up a whole new world.[Animation: Courtesy of LinkedIn]As for how LinkedIns ongoing evolution fits into Roslanskys new role at Microsoft, he points out several advantages to his twin responsibilities.For one, the ability to sit in on meetings with people like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, CTO Kevin Scott, and Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman give him a view into where the bleeding edge of where AI and technology are going. But expanding his purview is also about aspects of LinkedIns mission that remain unfulfilled even nine years after the two companies became one.Recruiters, we make productive and successful, Roslansky explains. Salespeople. Marketers. But general professionals are still something that we are decent at, not what we’ve thrived on. It turns out the greatest set of tools in the world to make professionals more productive is the suite of office tools that I have the amazing honor to be working on right now.Until now, LinkedIn has felt like a most distant relative of Microsoftian stalwarts such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. As AI provides opportunities to rethink all these productswith well over a century of combined history behind them Roslansky says hes thinking about them holistically. That alone is a new approach. And its upshot could shape the future of some of the worlds most-used business tools.
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E-Commerce
Online betting is more accessible than ever, with 14% of U.S. adults saying they bet on professional or college sports online either frequently or occasionally, according to a February poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It’s also in the news, with a growing list of sports betting scandals making headlines.Public health advocates and personal finance advisers say it’s important to know the risks if you’re going to gamble online.“Gambling and ‘responsibly’ seem to be oxymoronic, because if you’re gambling it’s all about risk,” said Caleb Silver, editor in chief of personal finance site Investopedia. “But people still do it. Online gambling and sports betting are only becoming more popular.”Since the Supreme Court struck down a ban on sports betting in 2018, 38 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized gambling, according to the American Gaming Association.For those new to online gambling, it can be helpful to set limits in advance on how much you’re willing to lose and how much time you’re willing to spend. Many of the platforms and apps that offer gambling, such as FanDuel and DraftKings, include optional safeguards to limit time or losses. Other apps can block access to the platforms for set amounts of time.Here’s what to know: Online gambling can be riskier than gambling in person The potential losses of digital betting can occur more quickly than in a physical casino, according to Heather Eshleman, director of operations at the Maryland Center for Excellence on Problem Gambling, since people can bet so much so easily and quickly on the internet or apps, with less friction.The new prevalence of prediction markets, such as PredictIt and Kalshi, has also created new opportunities to place wagers online on everything from election outcomes to celebrity news to the weather. How to tell if you have a problem with online gambling According to public health advocates, the biggest warning sign of a problem is if you’re devoting time to online betting that’s taking away from other things in your life especially your relationships with friends, family, and work. If you’re spending money on gambling that could instead go towards unmet basic needs, that’s also a warning sign.“We encourage people to only use money they would use for fun and entertainment, not money that should be used to pay the mortgage or the rent or to pay for food,” said Eshleman.Silver echoed this.“You have to know before you do it how much you can afford to lose,” he said. “What is your ‘tap out point?’ Those rules have to be firmly established.” Ways to limit online gambling Most sports betting platforms offer “responsible gambling tools,” according to Eshleman.“You can set limits on time, money, deposits, wins, and losses,” she said. “The goal is to set those limits before you start, because if you don’t set them in advance, they’re not really going to work for you. Once you’re into the excitement of it, you’re not going to stop and use those tools.”Eshleman recommends apps such as GambBan and BetBlocker, which limit access to gambling sites externally. She also directs those who suspect they may have a problem to use the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline or contact Gamblers Anonymous. Know the risks and downsides Silver, the head of Investopedia, said he started adding definitions of online betting and gambling terms to the personal finance site when he saw an increasingly “closer connection between sports betting, day trading, options trading, and cryptocurrency trading.” He encourages those who are interested in digital betting to make sure they know what they’re getting into.“Before anyone even gets an online (gambling) account, they should be required to know the fundamental terms and rules about the way sports betting works,” he said. “What’s the ‘money line’ or ‘parlay?’ How do odds work? What is the maximum I could lose on this bet?”The other thing to do is to “play with no expectation of a return,” he said. “The likelihood is that you will lose. So, if you’re willing to lose, how much are you willing to lose?”Cory Fox, senior vice president of public policy and sustainability at FanDuel, who handles the site’s responsible gambling initiatives, compares using the safeguards to wearing a seatbelt when driving in a car and said FanDuel is committed to setting standards for being a responsible operator in the online gambling space.Lori Kalani, chief responsible gaming officer at DraftKings, said the site is committed to the same goal and compared using the limit-setting tools to taking Ubers instead of driving on a night when you know you’ll be drinking.Fox added that responsible gambling tools are important to help allow FanDuel to maintain its social license. He said that it’s in the interest of the site to make sure its users can be on the site and play for a long time to come. Make sure it’s not a coping mechanism “If you’re taking care of your mental health, you’re less likely to have a problem with gambling,” Eshleman said.Rather than turning to the thrill of placing online bets, Eshleman encourages people to find positive ways to cope with stress listening to music, taking walks, getting more sleep and exercise, and spending more time socializing. Social gambling is safer than hidden, private gambling, she said.“If you’re doing it alone, that’s a red flag that it’s not an activity that’s healthy for you,” said Eshleman. “It all ties in to our basic wellness. I think if people focus on wellness, it will prevent a lot of gambling.” The Associated Press receives support from the Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. Cora Lewis, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Americans have long ogled the rich, but the countrys widening wealth gapand the billionaires fueling ithave been facing growing scrutiny. The news that Elon Musk is on track to be the worlds first trillionaire came the same week that a judge ordered the Trump administration to fully fund food stamps, as 42 million Americans were left without the benefits they need to buy food. (The Trump administration appealed that ruling.) New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, made national headlines throughout his campaign for highlighting the affordability crisis in the city. Mamdani received support from figures like former labor secretary Robert Reich and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who have frequently criticized billionaires. Even singer Billie Eilish called out the ultra wealthy recently. If youre a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? she said while announcing an $11.5 million donation (about 23% of her net worth), before urging billionaires to give away their money. A new Harris Poll shared exclusively with Fast Company highlights how everyday Americans are paying more attention to this inequalityand how they oscillate between admiring and admonishing the wealthy. An economic system that works best for the rich In the Americans & Billionaires survey, now in its third year, only 28% of respondents said that the current U.S. economic system works well for most people. Instead, 35% said it prioritizes the ultra wealthy, and 36% said it offers opportunitybut not equally. Nearly three-quarters of Americans say wealth inequality is a serious national issue. Americans are also directly blaming billionaires for the financial struggles they face. Sixty-seven percent said billionaires are creating more of an unfair society, an eight-point increase from the 2024 survey. That sentiment was also higher among Gen Z and millennials, 72% of whom agreed with the statement compared to 62% of Gen X and baby boomers. Fifty-five percent of Americans said that billionaires make it harder to achieve my American dream; for Gen Z and millennials, the share was 65%. And theyre also generally over seeing extreme wealth on display: 74% of respondents say that billionaires are over-celebrated in U.S. culture. ‘The era of the untouchable billionaire is over’ When calling out inequality, people often point to the ways billionaires could help the rest of the world. Mamdani ran in part on taxing the wealthy in order to pay for free childcare and buses; others have noted how taxing the rich could fund universal healthcare, end world hunger, and address climate change. Americans broadly believe that the more wealth someone has, the more responsibility they have to the world, the Harris Poll found. Seventy-two percent of Americans agreed that billionaires have an ethical responsibility” to address the worlds humanitarian crisesup four points from the year priorand 69% said billionaires have a responsibility to better society, and should give back. Across all age groups, Harris Poll saw an increase in the percent of Americans who want a limit on wealth accumulation, compared to 2024. The era of the untouchable billionaire is over, Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer and futurist at The Harris Poll, says in a statement. Americans want wealth to work harder, for society, not just for shareholders. Still, they dont seem to have much hope that billionaires will do so; 76% of respondents agreed with the statement that billionaires are more concerned about protecting themselves than helping others. One area billionaires are wading into, though, is politics. Billionaires like Bill Ackman spent millions opposing Mamdanis race for mayor, and Musk notoriously enmeshed himself in the federal government this year. Americans are growing wary of that trend: 7 in 10 wish billionaires played a smaller role in U.S. politics. Americans want wealth for security These sentiments toward the rich dont completely preclude people from wanting to join their ranks. Even though 76% of Americans admit that billionaires benefit from a broken system, six in ten still said that they want to become a billionaire one day. But its also clear that Americans aspire to wealth because it seems like one of the only ways to survive our continuous, mounting economic shocks. Two-thirds of Gen Z and millennials said that they aspire for extreme wealth not for success, but for security in an increasingly unstable economy. Overall, 52% of Americans agreed with the statement that If I was a billionaire, then all my problems would be solved. Gen Z doesnt want to be billionaires for bragging rights, they want safety in an uncertain economy, Rodney says. Theyre rewriting the rules of ambition, turning wealth into a survival strategy, not a status symbol.
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E-Commerce
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