You might be tempted to get a Chromebook as your next laptop and we wouldn’t blame you. Chrome OS has come a long way: Chromebooks today have a good combination of build quality, battery life and power while also supporting years of software updates that will take you years into the future. If you primarily browse the web, or don’t need a ton of extra software on a regular basis, a Chromebook can be a powerful daily driver.

While Google did make things simpler last fall by introducing the Chromebook Plus initiative (more on that below), there are still multiple things to keep in mind when shopping for a new Chromebook. The market is saturated with machines at different price points and power levels; I’ve been testing and reviewing Chromebooks for years and know what you should be looking for, and what you can expect out of these laptops.

What is Chrome OS, and why would I use it over Windows?

This is probably the number one question about Chromebooks. There are plenty of inexpensive Windows laptops on the market, so why bother with Chrome's operating system? Glad you asked. For me, the simple and clean nature of Chrome OS is a big selling point. Chrome OS is based on Google’s Chrome browser, which means most of the programs you can run are web based. There’s no bloatware or unwanted apps to uninstall like you often get on Windows laptops, it boots up in seconds, and you can completely reset to factory settings almost as quickly.

Of course, simplicity will also be a major drawback for some users. Not being able to install native software can be a dealbreaker if you’re a video editor or software developer. But there are also plenty of people who do the majority of their work in a web browser.

Google and its software partners are getting better every year at supporting more advanced features. For example, Google added video editing tools to the Google Photos app on Chromebooks – it won’t replace Adobe Premiere, but it should be handy for a lot of people. Similarly, Google and Adobe announced Photoshop on the web last year, something that brings much of the power of Adobe’s desktop apps to Chromebooks.

Chromebooks can also run Android apps, which greatly expands the amount of software available. The quality varies widely, but it means you can do more with a Chromebook beyond just web-based apps. For example, you can install the Netflix app and save videos for offline watching. Other Android apps like Microsoft Office and Adobe Lightroom are surprisingly capable as well. Between Android apps and a general improvement in web apps, Chromebooks are more than just portals to a browser.

What do Chromebooks do well?

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Put simply, web browsing and really anything web based. Online shopping, streaming music and video and using various social media sites are among the most common daily tasks people do on Chromebooks. As you might expect, they also work well with Google services like Photos, Docs, Gmail, Drive, Keep and so on. Yes, any computer that can run Chrome can do that too, but the lightweight nature of Google Chrome OS makes it a responsive and stable platform.

As I mentioned before, Chrome OS can run Android apps, so if you’re an Android user you’ll find some nice ties between the platforms. You can get most of the same apps that are on your phone on a Chromebook and keep info in sync between them. You can also use some Android phones as a security key for your Chromebook or instantly tether your laptop to use mobile data.

Google continues to tout security as a major differentiator for Chromebooks, and it’s definitely a factor worth considering. Auto-updates are the first lines of defense: Chrome OS updates download quickly in the background and a fast reboot is all it takes to install the latest version. Google says that each webpage and app on a Chromebook runs in its own sandbox as well, so any security threats are contained to that individual app. Finally, Chrome OS has a self-check called Verified Boot that runs every time a device starts up. Beyond all this, the simple fact that you generally can’t install traditional apps on a Chromebook means there are fewer ways for bad actors to access the system.

If you’re interested in Google’s Gemini AI tools, a Chromebook is a good option as well. Every Chromebook in our top picks comes with a full year of the Google One AI Premium plan — this combines the usual Google One perks like 2TB of storage and 10 percent back in purchases from the Google Store with a bunch of AI tools. You’ll get access to Gemini in Gmail, Docs and other apps, Gemini Advanced (which runs on the 1.5 Pro model) and more. Given that this plan is $20/month, it’s a pretty solid perk. Chromebook Plus models also include tools like the AI-powered “help me write,” the Google Photos Magic Editor and generative AI backgrounds you can create by filling in a few prompts.

As for when to avoid Chromebooks, the answer is simple: If you rely heavily on a specific native application for Windows or a Mac, chances are you won’t find the exact same option on a ChromeOS device. That’s most true in fields like photo and video editing, but it can also be the case in law or finance. Plenty of businesses run on Google’s G suite software, but more still have specific requirements that a Chromebook might not match. If you’re an iPhone user, you’ll also miss out on the way the iPhone easily integrates with an iPad or Mac. For me, the big downside is not being able to access iMessage on a Chromebook.

Finally, gaming Chromebooks are not ubiquitous, although they’re becoming a slightly more reasonable option with the rise of cloud gaming. In late 2022, Google and some hardware partners announced a push to make Chromebooks with cloud gaming in mind. From a hardware perspective, that means laptops with bigger screens that have higher refresh rates as well as optimizing those laptops to work with services like NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Game Pass and Amazon Luna. You’ll obviously need an internet connection to use these services, but the good news is that playing modern games on a Chromebook isn’t impossible. You can also install Android games from the Google Play Store, but that’s not what most people are thinking of when they want to game on a laptop.

What are the most important specs for a Chromebook?

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Chrome OS is lightweight and runs well on fairly modest hardware, so the most important thing to look for might not be processor power or storage space. But Google made it easier to get consistent specs and performance late last year when it introduced the Chromebook Plus initiative. Any device with a Chromebook Plus designation meets some minimum requirements, which happen to be very similar to what I’d recommend most people get if they’re looking for a laptop they can use every day.

Chromebook Plus models have at least a 12th-gen Intel Core i3 processor, or an AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series processor, both of which should be more than enough for most people. These laptops also have a minimum of 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which should do the trick unless you’re really pushing your Chromebook. All Chromebook Plus models have to have a 1080p webcam, which is nice in these days of constant video calling, and they also all have to have at least a 1080p IPS screen.

Of course, you can get higher specs or better screens if you desire, but I’ve found that basically everything included in the Chromebook Plus target specs makes for a very good experience.

Google has an Auto Update policy for Chromebooks as well, and while that’s not exactly a spec, it’s worth checking before you buy. Last year, Google announced that Chromebooks would get software updates and support for an impressive 10 years after their release date. This support page lists the Auto Update expiration date for virtually every Chromebook ever, but a good rule of thumb is to buy the newest machine you can to maximize your support.

How much should I spend?

Chromebooks started out notoriously cheap, with list prices often coming in under $300. But as they’ve gone more mainstream, they’ve transitioned from being essentially modern netbooks to the kind of laptop you’ll want to use all day. As such, prices have increased: At this point, you should expect to spend at least $400 if you want a solid daily driver. There are still many cheap Chromebooks out there that may be suitable as secondary devices, but a good Chromebook that can be an all-day, every-day laptop will cost more. But, notably, even the best Chromebooks usually cost less than the best Windows laptops, or even the best “regular” laptops out there.

There are plenty of premium Chromebooks that approach or even exceed $1,000 that claim to offer better performance and more processing power, but I don’t recommend spending that much. Generally, that’ll get you a better design with more premium materials, as well as more powerful internals and extra storage space. Of course, you also sometimes pay for the brand name. But, the specs I outlined earlier are usually enough.

See Also:

• Best Laptops for 2025

• Best Gaming Laptops

• Best 2-in-1 Laptops for 2025

• Best Cheap Windows Laptops

• Best Laptops for College Students

Best Chromebooks in 2025

Other Chromebooks we tested

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus

Samsung’s new Galaxy Chromebook Plus is one of the more unique Chromebooks out there. It’s extremely thin and light, at .46 inches and 2.6 pounds, but it manages to include a 15.6-inch display in that frame. That screen is a 1080p panel that’s sharp and bright, but its 16:9 aspect ratio made things feel a bit cramped when scrolling vertically. Performance is very good, and the keyboard is solid, though I’m not a fan of the number pad as it shifts everything to the left. At $700 it’s not cheap, but that feels fair considering its size and capabilities. If you’re looking for a big screen laptop that is also super light, this Chromebook merits consideration, even if it’s not the best option for everyone.

• Motorola Solutions uses AI to help address delays in 911 emergency calls and improve response times.
• Its Vesta NXT software helps 911 call handlers gather and summarize data for quicker communication.
• This article is part of "CXO AI Playbook" — straight talk from business leaders on how they're testing and using AI.

Motorola Solutions is a Chicago-based provider of technology and communications solutions focused on public safety and enterprise security. It has about 21,000 employees worldwide.

Situation analysis: What problem was the company trying to solve?

The National Emergency Number Association estimates that 240 million 911 calls are made in the US each year. But fragmented emergency-response systems across various agencies and organizations can lead to dangerous delays.

"You hope to never call 911, but when you do, it needs to work," Jehan Wickramasuriya, the corporate vice president of AI and platforms at Motorola Solutions, told Business Insider.

He added that call takers' jobs can be demanding and unpredictable, and they're often under intense pressure. "There can be a high level of stress if there's an active shooter or domestic disturbance," he said. "They're trying to keep a caller calm and simultaneously find out if they need medical help." Meanwhile, he said, callers may be "speaking so fast that it's difficult to understand and retain everything they say."

Pinpointing a caller's location adds a layer of complexity. Mobile 911 calls are typically routed based on cell-tower locations rather than the caller's actual position. This requires calls to be redirected, adding several seconds to response times.

"At the end of the day it's a data problem," Wickramasuriya said, "because a lot of information needs to get transmitted in each call."

Motorola Solutions is using AI to consolidate this data in a single platform.

Key staff and stakeholders

The company structures its AI research team around specialized AI domains, such as computer vision and speech and audio processing, rather than individual product lines.

Wickramasuriya said the core AI team consisted of about 50 scientists, developers, and engineers who collaborate closely with hundreds of product managers, designers, and user-experience specialists.

Motorola Solutions also works with various cloud and technology vendors on its AI-enabled products and services.

AI in action

In June, Motorola Solutions launched Vesta NXT, software designed to help 911 call handlers manage emergency calls. It brings data from various public-safety systems onto one platform, helping the handlers gather and summarize information.

The tool uses AI to surface details including the caller's location and, for callers who have opted to share their medical profile from their phone, any underlying health conditions. It can also suggest the best entrance to a building. "That's important information for first responders," Wickramasuriya said.

The software has translation and transcription capabilities, helping English speakers and non-English speakers communicate. AI also helps call handlers manage nonemergency calls — by streamlining the reporting of issues like abandoned cars or stolen property, call handlers can focus more on critical emergencies.

Most important, AI can improve the human element of emergency response. "AI is working in the background to help the call taker attend to the person on the other end of the line," Wickramasuriya said.

Did it work, and how did leaders know?

Motorola Solutions says roughly 60% of 911 call centers in the US use its call-handling software. It's transitioning existing Vesta 911 users to its new system with the AI features.

The company says these AI tools are already translating millions of minutes of audio each month and have helped lighten emergency-call handlers' workloads partly by resolving nonemergency calls and connecting callers to other resources.

Lee County is the first Public Safety Answering Point, which is a call center that handles emergency calls and coordinates responses, to use the VESTA NXT. Motorola Solutions said administrators there found the AI-generated searchable text transcripts and real-time summaries of 911 calls that call handlers can share with dispatchers and first responders helped save time and alleviate stress for call handlers.

What's next?

Wickramasuriya said the company was focused on improving Vesta NXT.

He said the goal was to "expand the usefulness" of the software by integrating it more deeply into existing workflows, including by developing features that connect first responders directly with dispatchers and call takers.

Another aim, he said, is to help understaffed 911 call centers "understand their staffing needs and identify which call takers are handling high-stress situations and address stress and fatigue among call handlers."

• Mysterious drones, first seen in New Jersey and now around the US, have everyone talking.
• We're probably not all about to get sucked up by a spaceship — but it's fun to wonder!
• The mystery is bringing people together from across the political spectrum in a true online moment.

Lots of people have one conspiracy theory they kind of believe in. Ideally, this is more on the mild end of things rather than something like the moon landing being faked. A little skepticism toward authority can be healthy.

Which is why the mysterious drones that have been flying over New Jersey and the Northeast — which the federal government tells us are nothing to worry about — are a perfect thread for our conspiratorial minds to pull on.

In this postelection time, the drones have united people across the political spectrum in a shared belief that something weird is going on, and these clowns in government aren't telling us the straight story.

(For the record, there is no evidence that the clowns in the government are, in fact, lying to us.)

Over on the Facebook Group "New Jersey Mystery Drones — let's solve it," which has more than 73,000 members, there's a sharp sense of disillusionment with the local and national government response. There's also a fair number of people who might not normally talk about believing in space aliens saying they think what we're seeing is space aliens.

And I think that's a beautiful thing. We needed this.

We may one day learn the Official Truth. Until then, the drones spotted over New Jersey and other places have become a perfect obsession: an unsolved mystery that has bonded communities and gotten people outside into the fresh December air.

(I would like to give a disclaimer here that I cannot say with 100% certainty that this is not a military attack from Australia as vengeance for our mockery of their Olympic breakdancer. Or that space aliens are not about to invade and harvest our organs.)

What we know about the apparent drones, so far, is that officials seem to agree that it's neither of those threats. The Pentagon has also said they're not drones from an "Iranian mothership." And other officials say what people are seeing is just regular airplanes, helicopters, or stars.

(If you want to get in on the action and check what's flying in the sky above you, flight-tracking apps can help.)

The drone mystery has been healing a wound in our divided nation. We needed something mildly silly but kind of wacky and slightly concerning to focus on collectively.

Unexplained drone activity ticks a lot of boxes of things humans love:

• Small aircraft, a favorite interest of dads.
• Being outside and staring at the night sky — activities that have bonded mankind since days of cave paintings.
• The opportunity to become an armchair expert in a field you read about in two news articles and a Wikipedia page.
• Talking to people in your medium-to-small town.
• A vague conspiracy — but mostly friendly and nice.
• Aliens????

Best of all, discussing drone sightings has been hyperlocal — and has thrived on Facebook. Outside the drone phenomenon, Facebook Groups already had become the nation's hub for suburban news. It's where people go to ask for a plumber recommendation, complain about schools, post activities — and now discuss potential extraterrestrial activity.

Getting in on the drone action

In my small town outside New York City, the local Facebook Group was buzzing about drone sightings — people were thrilled to finally get in on the action after hearing about it in New Jersey for weeks.

An offshoot group was started to discuss drone sightings in Connecticut. (It's much smaller than the New Jersey one.) A recent post showed the vibe: "No sightings yet in Norwalk." See, everyone wants in on the fun.

There's some history of silly panics in the headlines just before something big happens. A series of shark attacks — dubbed the "Summer of the Shark" — dominated the news in the late summer of 2001. Then there was the summer of clown sightings in 2016, right before Trump was elected president for the first time.

Perhaps years from now, we'll all look back at this as the funny moment where we all focused on drones right before [whatever] happened. Or, hey, maybe we'll look back on this and think: "We should've fought off the alien brainsuckers sooner!"

There's so much for middle-aged suburbanites to argue about on the internet — property taxes, politics, Luigi. But for a brief moment, we've gotten to engage in extended Fox Mulder LARP.

I hope the drones stick around a little longer.

EXCLUSIVE: A top Republican senator will accuse Meta – the parent company of Facebook – of "shadow banning" and removing social media posts in a letter Tuesday demanding answers from CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Small Business committee, will, in part, cite a 2022 Washington Post report on social media companies’ "deamplification" of certain Facebook and Instagram content.

The report discussed Meta’s response to "problematic content," which the executive at the time called "borderline" and argued must have reduced reach due to its proclivity to go viral.

In the letter addressed to Zuckerberg’s San Mateo County, California, office, Ernst alleged such content included that of the military as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Virginia.

TOP DOGE SENATOR DEMANDS ANSWERS ON PLAN TO EXHAUST CHIPS ACT FUNDS BEFORE TRUMP ARRIVES

"Your platform, amongst others, provides an unparalleled opportunity to connect the U.S. military with younger generations. That is why I am concerned about Meta’s ongoing shadow banning and removal of the U.S. Armed Services’ posts," Ernst wrote in the letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.

"The defense of our nation is entirely dependent upon the voluntary enlistment of brave women and men willing to put their lives on the line so every American can freely speak their minds."

In remarks to Fox News Digital, Ernst said Americans’ freedoms are only possible through the all-volunteer armed services, which she previously served in.

"I am concerned Meta’s algorithms are hindering our investment in connecting with and recruiting the next generation of warfighters," she added.

"The service and sacrifice of the brave men and women in uniform should be celebrated, not restricted."

In her letter, Ernst accused Meta of sporadically adjusting its violations policies without "clear rationale" and cited reports to Congress showing an increase in content-restriction on military-related postings.

ERNST MEETS WITH HEGSETH

Embedding an image of an Instagram violation warning on one particular post, Ernst listed a handful of such reports and their loss of cyber "reach."

A six-hour suspension of a post on Feb. 29 resulted in the loss of 2,500 impressions and 500 engagements, while a similar situation on March 3 reduced a post’s reach by 5,000 impressions and 1,100 engagements.

Ten posts on the GoArmy social media account were flagged as violating guidelines over a three-day period in September, Ernst said, and the account was briefly put on "non-recommendable" status twice.

The senator said the Army’s public affairs office reported disruptions to several posts, including one featuring the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and one depicting soldiers onboard a helicopter.

HAWLEY CALLS OUT FACEBOOK CEO AFTER SENATE HEARING

In turn, Ernst asked Zuckerberg to lay out the guidelines used to mediate military-related content and how they are communicated to account holders.

She also asked for an explanation as to the apparent suppression of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier post, and actions taken thus far to prevent future shadow-bans that shouldn’t occur.

The lawmaker also demanded an estimate on the cost of the official Pentagon-sanctioned ads that were suppressed.

• Depop's new gen-AI feature creates item descriptions based on photos that users upload.
• The tool has boosted the number of listings on the company's website and saves sellers time.
• This article is part of "CXO AI Playbook" — straight talk from business leaders on how they're testing and using AI.

Depop is an online fashion marketplace where users can buy and sell secondhand clothing, accessories, and other products. Founded in 2011, the company is headquartered in London and has 35 million registered users. It was acquired by Etsy, an online marketplace, in 2021.

Situation analysis: What problem was the company trying to solve?

Depop's business model encourages consumers to "participate in the circular economy rather than buying new," Rafe Colburn, its chief product and technology officer, told Business Insider. However, listing items to sell on the website and finding products to buy take time and effort, which he said can be a barrier to using Depop.

"By reducing that effort, we can make resale more accessible to busy people," he said.

To improve user experience, Depop has unveiled several features powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, including pricing guidance to help sellers list items more quickly and personalized algorithms to help buyers identify trends and receive product recommendations.

In September, Depop launched a description-generation feature using image recognition and generative AI. The tool automatically creates a description for an item once sellers upload a product image to the platform.

"What we've tried to do is make it so that once people have photographed and uploaded their items, very little effort is required to complete their listing," Colburn said. He added that the AI description generator is especially useful for new sellers who aren't as familiar with listing on Depop.

Key staff and stakeholders

The AI description-generation feature was developed in-house by Depop's data science team, which trained large language models to create it. The team worked closely with product managers.

Colburn said that in 2022, the company moved its data science team from the engineering group to the product side of the business, which has enabled Depop to release features more quickly.

AI in action

To use the description generator, sellers upload an image of the item they want to list to the Depop platform and click a "generate description" button. Using image recognition and gen AI, the system generates a product description and populates item-attribute fields on the listing page, including category, subcategory, color, and brand.

The technology incorporates relevant hashtags and colloquial language to appeal to buyers, Colburn said. "We've done a lot of prompt engineering and fine-tuning to make sure that the tone and style of the descriptions that are generated really fit the norms of Depop," he added.

Sellers can use the generated description as is or adjust it. Even if they modify descriptions, sellers still save time compared to starting with "an empty box to work with," Colburn said.

Did it work, and how did leaders know?

Depop has about 180,000 new listings every day. Since rolling out the AI-powered description generation in September, the company has seen "a real uplift in listings created, listing time, and completeness of listings," Colburn said. However, as the tool was launched recently, a company spokesperson said that specific data was not yet available.

"Aside from the direct user benefits in terms of efficiency and listing quality, we have also really demonstrated to ourselves that users value features that use generative AI to reduce effort on their end," Colburn said.

Ultimately, Depop wants sellers to list more items, and the company's goal is to make it easier to do so, he added. Automating the process with AI means sellers can list items quicker, which Colburn said would create a more robust inventory on the platform, lead to more sales, and boost the secondhand market.

What's next?

Colburn said Depop continues to look for ways to apply AI to address users' needs.

For example, taking high-quality photos of items is another challenge for sellers. It's labor-intensive but important, as listings with multiple high-quality photos of garments are more likely to sell. He said Depop was exploring ways to make this easier and enhance image quality with AI.

A challenge for buyers is sometimes finding items that fit. Depop is also looking into how AI can help shoppers feel more confident that the clothing they purchase will fit so that their overall satisfaction with the platform will be enhanced, Colburn said.

• Shutterstock added gen AI to its stock-content library to generate $104 million in revenue.
• The company has partnered with tech giants including Meta, Amazon, Apple, OpenAI, and Nvidia.
• This article is part of "CXO AI Playbook" — straight talk from business leaders on how they're testing and using AI.

Shutterstock, founded in 2003 and based in New York, is a global leader in licensed digital content. It offers stock photos, videos, and music to creative professionals and enterprises.

In late 2022, Shutterstock made a strategic decision to embrace generative AI, becoming one of the first stock-content providers to integrate the tech into its platform.

Dade Orgeron, the vice president of innovation at Shutterstock, leads the company's artificial-intelligence initiatives. During his tenure, Shutterstock has transitioned from a traditional stock-content provider into one that provides several generative-AI services.

While Shutterstock's generative-AI offerings are focused on images, the company has an application programming interface for generating 3D models and plans to offer video generation.

Situation analysis: What problem was the company trying to solve?

When the first mainstream image-generation models, such as Dall-E, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney, were released in late 2022, Shutterstock recognized generative AI's potential to disrupt its business.

"It would be silly for me to say that we didn't see generative AI as a potential threat," Orgeron said. "I think we were fortunate at the beginning to realize that it was more of an opportunity."

He said Shutterstock embraced the technology ahead of many of its customers. He recalled attending CES in 2023 and said that many creative professionals there were unaware of generative AI and the impact it could have on the industry.

Orgeron said that many industry leaders he encountered had the misconception that generative AI would "come in and take everything from everyone." But that perspective felt pessimistic, he added. But Shutterstock recognized early that AI-powered prompting "was design," Orgeron told Business Insider.

Key staff and stakeholders

Orgeron's position as vice president of innovation made him responsible for guiding the company's generative-AI strategy and development.

However, the move toward generative AI was preceded by earlier acquisitions. Orgeron himself joined the company in 2021 as part of its acquisition of TurboSquid, a company focused on 3D assets.

Shutterstock also acquired three AI companies that same year: Pattern89, Datasine, and Shotzr. While they primarily used AI for data analytics, Orgeron said the expertise Shutterstock gained from these acquisitions helped it move aggressively on generative AI.

Externally, Shutterstock established partnerships with major tech companies including Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, OpenAI, Nvidia, and Reka. For example, Shutterstock's partnership with Nvidia enabled its generative 3D service.

AI in action

Shutterstock's approach to AI integration focused on the user experience.

Orgeron said the company's debut in image generation was "probably the easiest-to-use solution at that time," with a simple web interface that made AI image generation accessible to creative professionals unfamiliar with the technology.

That stood in contrast to competitors such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, which, at the time Shutterstock launched its service in January 2023, had a basic user interface. Midjourney, for instance, was initially available only through Discord, an online chat service more often used to communicate in multiplayer games.

This focus on accessibility set the stage for Shutterstock.AI, the company's dedicated AI-powered image-generation platform. While Shutterstock designed the tool's front end and integrated it into its online offerings, the images it generates rely on a combination of internally trained AI models and solutions from external partners.

Shutterstock.AI, like other image generators, lets customers request their desired image with a text prompt and then choose a specific image style, such as a watercolor painting or a photo taken with a fish-eye lens.

However, unlike many competitors, Shutterstock uses information about user interactions to decide on the most appropriate model to meet the prompt and style request. Orgeron said Shutterstock's various models provide an edge over other prominent image-generation services, which often rely on a single model.

But generative AI posed risks to Shutterstock's core business and to the photographers who contribute to the company's library. To curb this, Orgeron said, all of its AI models, whether internal or from partners, are trained exclusively on Shutterstock's legally owned data. The company also established a contributor fund to compensate content creators whose work was used in the models' training.

Orgeron said initial interest in Shutterstock.AI came from individual creators and small businesses. Enterprise customers followed more cautiously, taking time to address legal concerns and establish internal AI policies before adopting the tech. However, Orgeron said, enterprise interest has accelerated as companies recognize AI's competitive advantages.

Did it work, and how did leaders know?

Paul Hennessy, the CEO of Shutterstock, said in June the company earned $104 million in annual revenue from AI licensing agreements in 2023. He also projected that this revenue could reach up to $250 million annually by 2027.

Looking ahead, Shutterstock hopes to expand AI into its video and 3D offerings. The company's generative 3D API is in beta. While it doesn't offer an AI video-generation service yet, Orgeron said Shutterstock plans to launch a service soon. "The video front is where everyone is excited right now, and we are as well," he said. "For example, we see tremendous opportunity in being able to convert imagery into videos."

The company also sees value in AI beyond revenue figures. Orgeron said Shutterstock is expanding its partnerships, which now include many of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. In some cases, partners allow Shutterstock to use their tech to build new services; in others, they license data from Shutterstock to train AI.

"We're partnered with Nvidia, with Meta, with HP. These are great companies, and we're working closely with them," he said. "It's another measure to let us know we're on the right track."

This article is part of "5G and Connectivity Playbook," a series exploring some of our time's most important tech innovations.

In March 2020, Dr. Leigh Hochberg and his colleagues realized two alarming realities: The pandemic was spreading, and clinical research would shut down rapidly.

Hochberg, a Brown University professor, is the director of BrainGate clinical trials. This expansive, multi-institution research program develops and tests brain-computer interface technologies designed to help people who have lost the ability to speak or move — such as translating the brain activity of ALS patients into words on a computer screen and helping paralyzed people move robotic arms with their minds.

Before COVID-19, a wireless version of the system had only been tested with a researcher in the room. Its full potential — and ability to work smoothly without a medical professional on standby — had not been evaluated.

When in-person clinical research stopped due to the pandemic, the team decided to teach the participants' caregivers how to establish the wireless connection and proceed with the project.

Hochberg said the moment felt like fate.

"As the world started to shut down, we realized that if we acted quickly, we had an opportunity to continue with our research," he said. "The wireless technology allowed our participants to remain engaged in the trial and allowed us to record overnight for the first time."

Though Elon Musk's Neuralink put wireless brain implants in the spotlight — in early 2024, Musk announced his company's first implant was successful — the research and development of these devices has spanned decades. The BrainGate clinical trials have been underway for 20 years, and the consortium's wireless implant marks the first time a person has used an implant with high bandwidth capabilities.

Wireless technologies are opening doors in neuroscience, enabling new capabilities in communication, treatment, and research. Because wireless implants can monitor the brain for long periods of time, they offer a unique opportunity to examine neural dynamics, increasing our understanding of the human mind. Their cord-free design also benefits people hoping to use these devices outside a research setting and improve their quality of life.

Powering a new model of connectivity

The first brain implant is credited to neurologist Phil Kennedy, who had the device surgically affixed to his brain. Today, wired implants are less invasive and widely used. They can help prevent seizures, manage OCD symptoms, and treat movement disorders.

Researchers are improving brain implant devices with wireless technology. These devices can transmit information without cables through radio frequency fields, acoustic waves, and light.

For the first decade of BrainGate trials, the system — electrodes implanted in the brain that record neural activity and computers that simultaneously decode those brain signals — required a cable connection between the implant and the computers. This meant participants were physically tethered to the equipment. "It was very clear early on during the clinical trials that we all looked forward to a day where there would be a wireless system," Hochberg said.

That day came in the late 2010s when the BrainGate team started to use a small, wireless neural transmitter developed by Brown University researchers. When placed on a user's head, the transmitter connects to the implant in the brain's motor cortex through a port on the skull. The transmitter then sends the information to a computer system to be analyzed.

"To put something in someone's brain is a very high bar," Jordan McCall, a neuroscientist and an associate professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis School, told BI. He works on creating wireless brain-interfacing devices that are small, flexible, and biocompatible.

In 2021, McCall and his colleagues published a paper in Nature Biomedical Engineering showing how they could remotely alter neural activity in rat brains using a wireless brain implant. With the help of Internet of Things technology, the implant included a Bluetooth microchip and a laser supported by Raspberry Pi, a small, single-board computer.

McCall said the use of store-bought technology was intentional. The goal, he added, was to make devices that are accessible to the scientific community.

However, wireless brain devices are still a work in progress. Some of the hurdles include long-term compatibility with brains, the reliability of wireless communication, and balancing data transmission quality with power consumption. But McCall said we're at a moment when there's plenty of space for new technologies to emerge.

"We're definitely not done, but I no longer think we're at the beginning of this," he said.

Exploring the brain cord-free

In addition to being an assistive technology, wireless implants are also valuable research tools.

Philipp Gutruf, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Arizona, told BI that the information gained through wireless devices could help researchers better understand human behavior and develop improved treatments for conditions like addiction. Gutruf develops devices intended to improve how medical conditions are diagnosed and treated and increase our understanding of the brain.

"The brain is incredibly complex, and we've been trying for a long time to decipher how the brain works and operates," Gutruf said.

Much of the field has focused on deciphering the electrical signals the brain constantly produces. However, the brain also contains chemicals such as dopamine that influence our mood and health. How these factors affect the brain is less understood, and Gutruf and his team are investigating this side of the equation.

They developed a wireless, battery-free implant that can monitor dopamine signals in the brain. The device uses a technique called optogenetic stimulation to activate or inhibit certain neurons in mice and record dopamine activity.

"We created a system that allows us to look at the brain in action while the animal subjects behave naturally," Gutruf said. "This is proving ground for a new type of technology that may lead to human application later."

The implant is powered remotely and transmits data wirelessly using infrared light waves. In other experiments, Gutruf and colleagues have also used near-field communication, a wireless technology commonly used for contactless payment systems or keyless entry. With near-field communication, data is transmitted through electromagnetic radio fields.

A better understanding of neurochemical composition in the brain could lead to earlier detection of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, as well as personalized therapies for mental and behavioral disorders.

"Right now, we have a reasonable grasp of the rest of the body, but the brain still has mysteries to unravel," Gutruf said. "New tools allow us to see what's going on in the brain in real time, which may allow us to decipher some of these mysteries."

Wireless tech's potential

While brain implants aren't new, McCall said that about a decade ago, there was an "exponential shift in what was possible." Advancements in material science and electrical engineering, along with the financial backing of the National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative, which kicked off in 2013, helped accelerate the technology significantly, leading to the current effort to optimize wireless brain implants.

Hochberg said academic institutions and private companies are racing to develop different versions of wireless devices.

But when it comes to implants designed for clinical purposes — like helping a patient express a thought — Hochberg said there are still questions about obtaining the tech outside a research setting. He is part of the Implantable BCI Collaborative Community, a newly launched project where neurotechnology stakeholders can discuss such challenges. The hope is to lay the groundwork for a more accessible future.

Hochberg is excited about BrainGate's potential to decode attempted speech instantly and synch it with wearable soft robotics, allowing for more comfortable and intuitive movements.

"There is tremendous promise for this powerful technology," Hochberg said.

• AI is opening new career tracks for software developers who want to shift to different roles.
• Developers at an AI roundtable said that the tech job market is fluctuating rapidly with gen AI.
• This article is part of "CXO AI Playbook" — straight talk from business leaders on how they're testing and using AI.

A few years ago, Kesha Williams was prepared to step away from her tech career — but then the AI boom brought her back.

"I've been in tech for 30 years, and before gen AI, I was ready to retire," she said. "I think I'll stay around just to see where this goes." Williams is the head of enterprise architecture and engineering at Slalom.

Williams and six other developers from companies including Amazon, Meta, Anaconda, and more joined Business Insider's virtual roundtable in November to discuss how AI is changing the software development landscape.

While hiring and recruitment in many tech jobs are dropping with the increased adoption of AI coding tools, developers say AI is also opening new career opportunities.

A new career path

Panelists said that the emergence of jobs focused on building AI models and features is a recent development in the industry.

"One of the biggest things I've noticed in the last two to three years is the rise of a job title called 'AI engineer,' which did not exist before, and it's kind of in between a machine-learning engineer and a traditional software engineer," Shruti Kapoor, a lead member of technical staff at Slack, said. "I'm starting to see more and more companies where 'AI engineer' is one of the top-paying jobs available for software engineers."

Salary trends from Levels.fyi, an online platform that allows tech workers to compare their compensation packages, found that in the past two years, entry-level AI engineers can earn 8% more than their non-AI engineer counterparts, and senior engineers can earn nearly 11% more.

Neeraj Verma, the head of applied AI at Nice, said at the roundtable that AI has enabled software engineers at his company to transition internally to AI roles. He said that over 20% of the developers at Nice have moved to AI-related positions in the past two years, with about 100 of those individuals considered experts in prompt engineering.

Verma said the company's developers are not just being supported by AI; they are actively involved in using the technology to build other AI features.

He added that many senior-level developers with strong coding abilities at the company have shown interest in moving to AI to apply their skill sets in new ways. Nice created training programs to help these employees learn the technology and make internal career shifts.

AI-specialized jobs encompass machine-learning engineers, prompt engineers, and AI researchers, among other roles. Although the skills that would be useful for each of these jobs can differ, Kapoor said that an AI engineering role does not necessarily require a specific tech background. Workers with prior experience in sectors like accounting and product management, for instance, have been able to pivot into the AI space.

Adapting to change

Just as AI is changing the software development process, developers say that the professional opportunities in AI could also be in constant flux.

"Software development will change in five years much more rapidly than anything we've seen before," Igor Ostrovsky, the cofounder of Augment, said at the roundtable. "How you architect, develop, test, and maintain software — that will all change, and how exactly you interact with AI will also evolve."

Researchers are already questioning the long-term potential of prompt engineering jobs, which skyrocketed in demand in 2023. They say that generative AI models could soon be trained to optimize their own prompts.

"I think prompt engineering is more of a sign that some developers have the desire to learn and are eager to figure out how to interact with artificial intelligence, but it won't necessarily be how you interact with AI in three years or five years," Ostrovsky said.

The pace of technological development means that software developers' ability to learn, adapt, and solve problems creatively will be more important than ever to stay ahead of the curve.

• At an AI roundtable in November, developers said AI tools were playing a key role in coding.
• They said that while AI could boost productivity, stakeholders should understand its limitations.
• This article is part of "CXO AI Playbook" — straight talk from business leaders on how they're testing and using AI.

At a Business Insider roundtable in November, Neeraj Verma, the head of applied AI at Nice, argued that generative AI "makes a good developer better and a worse developer worse."

He added that some companies expect employees to be able to use AI to create a webpage or HTML file and simply copy and paste solutions into their code. "Right now," he said, "they're expecting that everybody's a developer."

During the virtual event, software developers from companies such as Meta, Slack, Amazon, Slalom, and more discussed how AI influenced their roles and career paths.

They said that while AI could help with tasks like writing routine code and translating ideas between programming languages, foundational coding skills are necessary to use the AI tools effectively. Communicating these realities to nontech stakeholders is a primary challenge for many software developers.

Understanding limitations

Coding is just one part of a developer's job. As AI adoption surges, testing and quality assurance may become more important for verifying the accuracy of AI-generated work. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of software developers, quality-assurance analysts, and testers will grow by 17% in the next decade.

Expectations for productivity can overshadow concerns about AI ethics and security.

"Interacting with ChatGPT or Cloud AI is so easy and natural that it can be surprising how hard it is to control AI behavior," Igor Ostrovsky, a cofounder of Augment, said during the roundtable. "It is actually very difficult to, and there's a lot of risk in, trying to get AI to behave in a way that consistently gives you a delightful user experience that people expect."

Companies have faced some of these issues in recent AI launches. Microsoft's Copilot was found to have problems with oversharing and data security, though the company created internal programs to address the risk. Tech giants are investing billions of dollars in AI technology — Microsoft alone plans to spend over $100 billion on graphics processing units and data centers to power AI by 2027 — but not as much in AI governance, ethics, and risk analysis.

AI integration in practice

For many developers, managing stakeholders' expectations — communicating the limits, risks, and overlooked aspects of the technology — is a challenging yet crucial part of the job.

Kesha Williams, the head of enterprise architecture and engineering at Slalom, said in the roundtable that one way to bridge this conversation with stakeholders is to outline specific use cases for AI. Focusing on the technology's applications could highlight potential pitfalls while keeping an eye on the big picture.

"Good developers understand how to write good code and how good code integrates into projects," Verma said. "ChatGPT is just another tool to help write some of the code that fits into the project."

Ostrovsky predicted that the ways employees engage with AI would change over the years. In the age of rapidly evolving technology, he said, developers will need to have a "desire to adapt and learn and have the ability to solve hard problems."

A U.S. appeals court has overturned a decision in an antitrust lawsuit against Meta, which was filed in in late 2021 by the long-shuttered social app Phhhoto. In court, the startup alleged that Meta violated U.S. antitrust law by copying its core features and suppressing competition. U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in 2023 granted Meta’s […]

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Days after Meta admitted that it’s been over-moderating its content, with mistakes impacting creators, the company announced an expansion of a new policy that will help to keep creators from being penalized after their first time violating Meta’s Community Standards. On Thursday, Meta said that the policy, which launched in August for Facebook creators, will […]

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As Meta faces off with antitrust regulators in the U.S. and Europe, a £2.1 billion+ Facebook U.K. class action-style competition lawsuit, which takes Meta’s market dominance as a given, is moving ahead after the social media giant lost a bid to have the litigation thrown out. The suit is seeking damages worth a minimum of […]

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• Several of the world's power brokers gathered for a New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday.
• While Elon Musk was not in attendance, he was the most-talked-about person there.
• Here's what business leaders and politicians had to say about the richest person on Earth.

Several masters of the universe convened on Wednesday, and they had one name on their lips: Elon Musk.

At the annual New York Times DealBook Summit, the world's richest man was a topic of conversation among his fellow billionaires, CEOs, and political elite.

To be sure, Andrew Ross Sorkin, DealBook's founder and the day's MC, asked nearly all of his guests about Musk, who made headlines at the same summit last year for telling advertisers on X to "go fuck" themselves.

And while the Tesla CEO wasn't present this year, many conversations touched on his latest role. Over the past couple of months, Musk has become a political advisor and confidant to President-elect Donald Trump and one of his biggest donors, shelling out about $119 million to support his campaign.

The reaction to Musk's new role as co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency ranged from cautiously optimistic to not giving a damn.

Ken Griffin, the billionaire hedge fund manager and GOP donor, praised Musk's entrepreneurial ability.

"He runs Tesla, he runs SpaceX at a level of excellence that very few companies can even start to relate to," Griffin said.

At the same time, he questioned just how much Musk could impact federal spending.

"He's going to have to hit the hard reality, the hard truth, that making cuts of any form whatsoever will be politically very unpopular," Griffin said. "It'll be very hard to squeeze numbers in the trillions of dollars out of the baseline budget."

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has been embroiled in a personal and legal feud with Musk, similarly praised the Tesla CEO's business acumen.

"At a time when most of the world was not thinking very ambitiously, he pushed a lot of people, me included, to think much more ambitiously," Altman said of his OpenAI cofounder.

While Altman acknowledged his feelings about Musk have changed, he said it would be unlike his former "mega hero" to use his political proximity for his own monetary gain.

"It would be profoundly un-American to use political power, to the degree that Elon has it, to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses," Altman said. "It would go so deeply against the values I believe he holds very dear to himself."

Jeff Bezos, whose Blue Origin is in direct competition with Musk's SpaceX, agreed that Musk's relationship with Trump was not that concerning.

"I take it face value what has been said, which is that he is not going to use his political power to advantage his own companies or to disadvantage his competitors," Bezos said. "Let's go into it hoping that the statements that have been made are correct, that this is going to be done above board in the public interest."

And Sundar Pichai, the Alphabet CEO, said Musk's xAI artificial intelligence company is a formidable competitor "given Elon's track record."

Those interviewed with actual political experience — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and former President Bill Clinton — appeared the most unfazed by Musk's new position of power.

Powell seemed confident in the independence of the Fed, even though Musk has signaled support for moving the central bank under the president's command.

And Clinton seemed to almost entirely brush off Musk's burgeoning influence — including the fact that he was on a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"Trump's whole shtick is that all these rules and systems don't amount to anything," the former president said.

"Being the richest guy on Earth is far more important than anything else that you could be to him," Clinton added. "That's what he values. It's no big deal."

The popular American gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson says it is still being kept in the dark after its Facebook account was suddenly suspended last month.

Though the account has since been reinstated, a representative for the company told Fox News Digital that "despite multiple attempts to reach Facebook to discuss the matter, to date we have not had direct communications with any of their staff members."

The gun company, which is headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, said staff suddenly received a notification from Facebook on Nov. 22 stating that their official Smith & Wesson account had been "suspended indefinitely."

"No warnings of a page suspension were previously communicated by Facebook," said the representative.

BIDEN-HARRIS POLICIES MAY BE BEHIND SURGE IN REPUBLICAN WOMEN OWNING GUNS, CONCEALED CARRY ADVOCATE SAYS

The representative said Facebook referenced five posts dating back to December 2023 that they "suggest did not follow their community guidelines."

"The posts in question included consumer promotional campaigns, charitable auctions, and product release announcements," the Smith & Wesson representative explained. "While Facebook’s policies are ever-changing, which creates a burden for users to comply with, we do not believe this content violated any of Facebook’s policies or community guidelines, and similar posts have been published in the past without issue."  

Facebook’s commerce policy prohibits the promotion of buying, selling and trading of weapons, ammunition and explosives. However, according to Facebook’s parent company Meta’s website, there is an exception for legitimate brick-and-mortar and online retailers, though their content is still restricted for minors.

‘SMOKING-GUN DOCUMENTS’ PROVE FACEBOOK CENSORED AMERICANS ON BEHALF OF WHITE HOUSE, JIM JORDAN SAYS

According to the representative, the page was reinstated on Nov. 27 after the gun manufacturer made a public statement about the incident on X.

In the post, which has 3.1 million views, Smith & Wesson criticized Facebook and thanked Elon Musk and X for supporting free speech amid what it called ongoing attacks against the First and Second Amendments. The company encouraged its 1.6 million Facebook followers and fans to "seek out platforms" that represent the "shared values" of free speech and the right to bear arms.

Despite the page eventually being reinstated, the representative told Fox News Digital that the company has still had no contact with Meta and "no rationale was given for the reinstatement beyond a comment on social media from a Facebook representative stating that the suspension had been ‘in error.’"

That same Meta staffer, Andy Stone, also directed Fox News Digital to the X post positing that Smith & Wesson’s suspension was an accident. In the post, Stone said "the page was suspended in error and we’ve now restored it. We apologize that this happened."

TRUMP FCC PICK SAYS BRINGING ‘CENSORSHIP CARTEL’ TO HEEL WILL BE A ‘TOP’ PRIORITY: ‘IT’S GOT TO END'

Through it all, the Smith & Wesson representative said the manufacturer is "grateful to Elon Musk for having created a public square platform that respects the right for Americans to voice their opinions, ALL opinions, and not just those that coincide with one agenda or another – especially as it relates to our constitutional rights guaranteed under the 1st and 2nd Amendments."

The spokesperson said that since their account was suspended, they have become aware that many other social media users have been similarly silenced and de-platformed.

"While we were encouraged by the reinstatement of our account, we were similarly disappointed by the number of other users reacting to our statement on X that commented that they have had very similar experiences with their accounts being de-platformed without warning," said the representative. "While we obviously do not know the details of those instances, we encourage Meta to continue working towards a more inclusive platform which allows the freedom for respectful dialogue from all viewpoints, which is a hallmark of American society."

Founded in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1852, Smith & Wesson is one of the most recognized gun brands in America and reported $535.8 million in sales in the 2024 fiscal year.

• TikTok is facing scrutiny in Romania for election interference.
• Romania's defense council says TikTok's algorithm fueled the rise of a far-right candidate.
• TikTok denied the claim that it treated any political candidate's content differently from others.

TikTok is facing accustions from regulators in Romania that content on the platform improperly influenced the country's presidential election.

Romania's Supreme Council of National Defense said in a statement on Thursday that one candidate "benefited from massive exposure due to preferential treatment" from TikTok.

Călin Georgescu, a far-right populist and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, defeated leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the heavy favorite, in the first round of presidential voting on November 24. Georgescu, who was virtually unknown before the election, catapulted from obscurity thanks in part to his viral TikTok videos.

The win secured Georgescu a place in a runoff vote scheduled for December 8. The Romanian Constitutional Court ordered a re-verification of the result following his surprise victory.

Georgescu has courted controversy with his pro-Russian and anti-NATO rhetoric, calling Ukraine an "invented country," according to the Associated Press. Romania borders Ukraine and is a NATO member.

In its statement, the Romanian defense council said there is growing interest inside Russia to "influence the public agenda in Romanian society" and disrupt social cohesion.

Georgescu's sudden popularity on TikTok appears to have helped fuel his election victory. One Romanian think tank told the AP that his TikTok following and engagement — his posts garnered over 100 million views in the weeks before the election — appeared "sudden and artificial."

The Supreme Council of National Defense said TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, failed to label the videos of one candidate — presumed to be Georgescu — as campaign content. The defense council said that not labeling the content as campaign-related drastically increased its visibility on TikTok.

"Thus, the visibility of that candidate increased significantly in relation to the other candidates who were recognized by the TikTok algorithms as candidates for the presidential elections, and the content promoted by them was massively filtered, exponentially decreasing their visibility among platform users," the statement said.

The accusation against TikTok in Romania mirrors similar claims against Facebook during the 2016 US presidential election when Russia used the social media platform to sow discord that favored Republicans and Donald Trump.

TikTok has also faced scrutiny in the United States for allowing political ads that included disinformation in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.

TikTok did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider. A spokesperson for the company told Politico that it denies that Georgescu was treated differently by the platform than other candidates.

"It is categorically false to claim his account was treated differently to any other candidate," spokesperson Paolo Ganino told the outlet. Ganino added that Georgescu was treated "in the same way as every other candidate on TikTok, and subject to exactly the same rules and restrictions."