Here are five things that happened in technology this week and how they impact your business. Did you miss them?

1 – The ruling on Google’s search monopoly is likely to strengthen competition and regulatory efforts.

A US district court has ruled that Google has a monopoly (90 percent) in the online search engine market and is using its dominance to stifle competition. This decision – the result of a major antitrust case – will clear the way for other search engines to become more competitive. The ruling is also expected to strengthen regulatory efforts to prevent exclusive search engine contracts. It will also strengthen future investigations into questionable business practices by large technology companies. Google plans to appeal the ruling. (Source: Computerworld)

Why this is important for your business:

Google is an absolute monopoly. It’s also biased against bigger brands. But search is changing so dramatically thanks to AI – just look at what OpenAI is planning – that this problem may resolve itself without the need for government intervention or break-up. The bottom line for our companies is that more changes to search and online advertising are likely to come.

2 – Pledge is revolutionizing fundraising with PledgeAI, the first AI for fundraisers.

Fundraising platform Pledge has launched PledgeAI – an innovative AI-powered tool designed to revolutionize charitable fundraising. Leveraging its extensive experience in raising over $140 million for 100,000 nonprofits worldwide, PledgeAI offers advanced features to improve fundraising efficiency and effectiveness, such as: rapid fundraising campaign creation, message optimization, and extensive donor outreach via social media. (Source: PR Newswire)

Why this is important for your business:

Pledge is a platform every nonprofit should use. It offers many ways to raise funds and doesn’t charge credit card fees. The company is now betting heavily on AI to help its users create campaigns more easily and productively. Nonprofits are underfunded and overwhelmed. But the smartest will regularly check platforms like this one to raise funds faster and more efficiently.

3 – X is testing removing Like, Comment, and Repost buttons from replies.

Elon Musk announced a significant change on X (formerly Twitter) by removing the like, repost and reply buttons from posts. This update was spotted by an X user – @aaronp613. Reportedly, the change is being tested. In addition, the statistics for likes, reposts and replies will no longer be displayed, only the number of views. The decision was met with concerns about the impact on engagement on the platform. (Source: Mashable)

Why this is important for your business:

I’m not smart enough to understand how this would affect my activity on X, as I frequently like, repost, and reply to other posts. If I can’t do that, how can I engage? I also like to look at the stats on individual posts, as they affect my own posts. I hope this change rolls out slowly, if at all.

4 – Microsoft Edge’s free VPN automatically protects you on public Wi-Fi networks.

Microsoft Edge has introduced a free built-in VPN called Edge Secure Network VPN, which is designed to protect users on public Wi-Fi networks by hiding IP addresses and encrypting data. The VPN is automatically enabled when connecting to unsecured networks or non-HTTPS sites, but it only works within the Edge browser and has a monthly data limit of 5GB. It lacks features like a location selector and a kill switch. Source: Techilicious)

Why this is important for your business:

VPNs are a necessary nuisance, especially for travelers like me who are sometimes forced to use public Wi-Fi. I’ve used a handful of different VPN services with mixed results and have always wondered why VPN features aren’t just automatically included in our browsers. Hopefully this is a trend in the right direction, as I’m a Chrome user and this feature isn’t automatically included without having to install a third-party extension.

5 – OpenAI has finally released the most important feature that developers have been waiting for so long.

OpenAI has introduced a new feature called “Structured Outputs” that addresses a common issue developers face when using large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4. This feature ensures that the outputs of these models strictly conform to predefined JSON schemas that describe the structure and type of expected data. This new feature is highly anticipated by developers as it simplifies the process of generating reliable and structured data and reduces the need for additional validations or workarounds. This update builds on OpenAI’s previous efforts to improve the usability and reliability of their models. (Source: VentureBeat)

Why this is important for your business:

This is one of those things that business owners like me don’t fully understand, but appreciate that it can help our development teams do better work. If your company is building solutions for yourself or others using OpenAI’s big language model, this seems like something your developers need to know.