The Essentials Facebook is multiplying its transformations in an attempt to become indispensable again as user behaviour fragments across TikTok, Reddit, messaging apps and online marketplaces. Full-screen video, algorithmic recommendations, AI-enhanced groups, an expanded Marketplace and dedicated applications now form an unusually broad strategy. This accumulation allows Meta to build on a network that remains...

The Essentials Julie Masino will step down as CEO of Cracker Barrel on 10 August 2026, nearly a year after a modernisation programme triggered an extraordinary backlash among the American chain’s customers. Removing the historic character from its logo, simplifying its visual identity and redesigning some restaurants were interpreted not as harmless updates, but as...

The Essentials The European Parliament wants to ban the most addictive features used by social media platforms, require greater algorithmic transparency and introduce a youth mode without targeted advertising. Behind these proposals lies a deeper shift: addiction is no longer being treated merely as the consequence of excessive use, but as a risk produced directly...

For twenty-five years, Google built its dominance around a gesture that became almost automatic: enter a query, scan a list of results, open several pages, compare the information and decide what to do next. Even as the search engine improved rankings, enriched result pages and began displaying direct answers, the responsibility for connecting the information...

Is AI Becoming Too Expensive to Deliver on All Its Promises? For several years, competition in artificial intelligence was primarily described as a race for performance. Companies wanted the most powerful model, the largest training runs, faster responses, broader capabilities and increasingly spectacular demonstrations. The strategic assumption was simple: even if the immediate economics were...

Companies Are Already Cutting Their AI Teams For the past two years, announcements about artificial intelligence have followed an almost predictable pattern. Companies created specialist units, recruited researchers, opened laboratories and presented each investment as a decisive step towards an unavoidable transformation. The question was no longer whether they should invest, but how quickly they...

When economic growth slows, costs become unpredictable or financial markets demand rapid answers, every company faces pressure, but not every company has the same room to manoeuvre. Some immediately reduce investment, reorganise teams or abandon projects whose profitability cannot be demonstrated within the next few quarters. Others accept temporarily weaker performance in order to preserve...

Women Still Account for Only One Third of Business Owners in Europe On 22 June 2026, the European Commission published a new report on women’s entrepreneurship. Its central finding can be summarised in a single figure: women account for only 33% of business owners in the European Union. The imbalance is therefore not limited to...

Europe Is Forcing Google to Open Android to Rival AI Assistants On 16 July 2026, the European Commission adopted a decision requiring Google to make eleven Android functions effectively interoperable with competing artificial intelligence services. Behind the technical language of the Digital Markets Act lies a much broader issue: who will control the relationship between...