A growing IT skills shortage is impeding organizations from completing digitization projects and adopting new technologies including generative artificial intelligence (genAI), and it’s hitting the bottom line in several ways.
In a recent IDC Research survey of more than 800 North American IT leaders, nearly two thirds said that a lack of skills has resulted in missed revenue growth objectives, quality problems, and a decline in customer satisfaction.
And the situation is not expected to get any better. IDC predicts that by 2026, more than 90% of organizations worldwide will feel the pain of the IT skills crisis, amounting to some $5.5 trillion in losses caused by product delays, impaired competitiveness, and loss of business.
Sixty-three percent of more than 800 IT leaders surveyed said a lack of skills has delayed digital transformation initiatives, most by an average of three to 10 months.
While it’s no surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) skills are currently the most in-demand skill for most enterprises, IT Operations are a close second. Additionally, a variety of cloud skills, including architecture, data management and storage, and software development, are among the ten most needed skills identified by survey respondents.
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This situation is further compounded by the need for additional, non-technical skills, such as digital business skills, human skills, and leadership skills, according to Gina Smith, PhD, research director for IDC’s IT Skills for Digital Business practice.
“Getting the right people with the right skills into the right roles has never been so difficult,” Smith said in a statement. “As IT skills shortages widen and the arrival of new technology accelerates, enterprises must find creative ways to hire, train, upskill, and reskill their employees. A culture of learning is the single best way to get there.”
The IDC report Enterprise Resilience: IT Skilling Strategies, 2024 presents a framework for how enterprises can address the IT skills shortage. It includes data from IDC’s 2024 North American IT Skills Survey as well as best practices for cultivating a culture of learning in the enterprise.
With AI ‘sucking the air out of almost all non-AI investments in the whole tech world,’ companies are cutting what they believe are unnecessary jobs — and replacing them with AI-skilled workers. In the first quarter of 2024, US companies announced plans to cut 257,254 jobs, up 120% over the final quarter of 2023, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The surge in layoffs was led by the tech sector, followed by government positions.
“If there’s a desire to delegate critical activities and functions to genAI, it is essential that senior management first develops a deeper understanding of the data management processes, including what data can and cannot be used to train these systems,” said David Emm, Kaspersky’s principal security researcher.
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A common concern among employees is that genAI will replace job positions. However, both anecdotal evidence and research has shown that like other tech advances in the past, genAI is likely to create more jobs than it replaces. And employees who are replaced by genAI are more likely to be replaced by someone who knows how to use AI as part of their skill set.
According to Forrester Research’s 2023 Generative AI Jobs Impact Forecast, the technology will influence 4.5 times more jobs than it replaces. The technology will also make up nearly 30% of the jobs that are lost to automation by 2030.
“We forecast that generative AI will replace 90,000 jobs in 2023, growing to 2.4 million by 2030,” the study said. While 2.4 million jobs replaced by genAI sounds high, Forrester notes that automation and AI overall will replace just 4.9% of US jobs by 2030. And job losses over the next two years will remain modest until questions about intellectual property rights, copyright issues, plagiarism, model refresh rates, model bias, ethics, and model response reliability are resolved, the research firm said.
The latest report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the impact of genAI reads like a “best of times, worst of times” tale. The study found as much as 60% of jobs will be exposed to the effects of AI. About half of the jobs affected by AI and genAI could benefit from enhanced productivity. For the other 50%, however, genAI tools could be used to execute tasks now done by humans, which could lower labor demand, lead to lower wages, and reduce hiring.
“Many studies have predicted the likelihood that jobs will be replaced by AI,” the study said. “Yet we know that in many cases, AI is likely to complement human work.”
But that requires employees who know how best to work with AI. Rick Villars, group vice president for research firm IDC, said his analysts have seen that enterprises are “again and again” increasing budgets for genAI and other forms of AI, including building out infrastructure, services, and software platforms.
“The one thing they’re not increasing at the same level is the investment in training and upskilling their own teams,” Villars said. “That’s about the IT teams and the subject-matter experts. But it’s also just training their employees on better AI behavior and practices so they can protect their information.”
Training workers to utilize AI and big data (huge amounts of structure and unstructured information) ranks third among company skills-training priorities over the next five years, and it will be prioritized by 42% of companies, according to a survey by the World Economic Forum.
Among the challenges organizations face when trying to expand the skills of their employees is resistance to training. Employees complain that the courses are too long, the options for learning are too limited, and there isn’t enough alignment between skills and career goals, according to IDC’s survey.
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To overcome these challenges, IT leaders need to employ a variety of strategies to encourage a more effective learning environment within their organization. That includes everything from classroom training to hackathons, hand-on labs, and games, quests, and mini-badges.
But fostering a positive learning environment in an organization requires more than just materials, courses, and challenges. Culture change begins at the top, and leaders need to demonstrate why learning matters to the organization.
“This can be done by aligning employee goals with business goals, promoting continuous learning throughout the employee’s journey, and creating a rewards program that recognizes process as well as performance,” IDC’s report stated. “It also requires the allocation of adequate time, money, and people resources.”
Training that engages employees also translates to “experiential learning” or hands-on training. More than eight in 10 IT executives surveyed by IDC indicated they’re either already using experiential learning techniques or plan on implementing them this year.
Nearly three out of four (70%) IDC survey respondents said they are already utilizing experiential learning methods, which includes labs, games, and hackathons. And genAI has also found its way into the current training environment, with more than half the organizations surveyed using or piloting it for IT training.
Most, but not nearly all of those surveyed said they also reward employees with project or role-based mini-credentials to encourage continued skills development.
Google has struck a partnership with Magic Leap to develop mixed reality products, the companies announced on Thursday.
The aim is to combine Magic Leap’s optics hardware IP and manufacturing expertise with Google’s own immersive technologies and developer ecosystem to collaborate on extended reality (XR) technologies, the companies said in a blog post. The term XR encompasses augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality technologies.
“We look forward to bringing together Magic Leap’s leadership in optics and manufacturing with our technologies to bring a wider range of immersive experiences to market,” said Shahram Izadi, vice president and general manager of AR/XR at Google, in a press release statement. “By combining efforts, we can foster the future of the XR ecosystem with unique and innovative product offerings.”
Aside from the apparent plan for Google to focus on software and Magic Leap on optics and other hardware, there are few details on what products might result from the partnership, said Avi Greengart, lead analyst at research firm Techsponential.
“[It] could mean that Magic Leap is planning new enterprise AR glasses running Google XR software,” said Greengart, “or perhaps Google will be using Magic Leap optics in its own smart glasses, or…something else entirely.”
Computerworld asked both companies for further information but didn’t receive a response.
The partnership is an extension of a longstanding relationship between the two firms: Google led a $542 million investment in Magic Leap in 2014. (Google CEO Sundar Pichai joined the board at that time, before he reportedly stepped down in 2018.) Magic Leap has received around $4 billion in total funding to date.
The company, which initially sought to gain traction with consumers, switched its focus to enterprise sales in recent years amid reports of low sales.
While it has struggled to gain traction, Magic Leap’s optics technology is attractive to multiple companies in the AR market, said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy. That includes Meta, which was reportedly in talks with Magic Leap to license its IP last year.
“Optics are not easy, and Magic Leap had to overcome a lot of challenges to deliver its unique display technology,” said Sag.
Google has developed its own AR/VR products too, notably the augmented reality headset Google Glass that launched in 2014. Like Magic Leap, Google also eventually pivoted to focus on enterprise customers after Glass failed to connect with a wider audience. Glass was discontinued last year.
Google has continued to develop various AR/VR technologies, such as Project Astra — an AI agent accessed via smart glasses, as highlighted to a demo at this year’s Google I/O. Google also struck a partnership with Samsung in 2023 with a view to develop mixed reality devices. A Google spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the deal with Samsung will not be affected by its collaboration with Magic Leap.
Microsoft’s cloud storage, OneDrive, is built into Windows 10 and 11. With it you can sync files on your Windows PC to the cloud and to your other Windows PCs, your smartphone or tablet (with the OneDrive app for Android, iPhone, or iPad installed), and even your Mac (via the OneDrive Mac app).
It’s handy for collaboration, too. You can share files or folders in your OneDrive with anyone by sending them a web link to it. If it’s a Microsoft Office file, then you and others can collaborate on it in real time in the Excel, PowerPoint, and Word web apps. Users with certain Microsoft 365 subscriptions can also use the desktop versions of these Office applications to work together on the file.
There are two main ways to access your files in OneDrive: in Windows via File Explorer, and through the OneDrive for Web app that you use in a browser. The files that you store in the Windows version of OneDrive can be simultaneously accessed in OneDrive for Web, and vice versa.
This guide explains how to work with OneDrive in Windows 10 and 11. OneDrive for Web will be covered in a separate guide, coming soon.
Get started with OneDrive
To use OneDrive, you need a Microsoft account. If your company uses Microsoft 365 or you have an Outlook.com account, then you have a Microsoft account. If not, you can sign up for one for free.
With a free Microsoft account, you get 5GB of OneDrive storage. You can upgrade to 100GB storage or more by subscribing to a Microsoft 365 plan, starting at $2 per month. Business customers can subscribe to a 1TB OneDrive for Business plan for $5 per user per month or opt for a Microsoft 365 plan. (See all the Microsoft 365 plans for home, small business, and enterprise use.)
Sign in to OneDrive in Windows
When you sign in to your Windows 10 or 11 PC with your Microsoft account, OneDrive is already activated by default.
Or if you prefer, you can sign in to OneDrive itself (separately from Windows’ sign-in) with a Microsoft account. On the notification area of the Windows taskbar, click the OneDrive icon (it looks like clouds with a slash over them), and click the Sign in button. You’ll be guided by the OneDrive notification app to sign in with your Microsoft account. (If you don’t see this icon, it’s probably hidden on your taskbar. Clicking the upward pointing arrow should reveal it.)
Signing in to OneDrive in Windows.
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This guide refers to how OneDrive functions when you sign in to OneDrive for Windows with a Microsoft 365 business account. But most things are the same if you use a free Microsoft account.
Store and sync files and folders to OneDrive in Windows
When you open File Explorer, OneDrive appears in the navigation pane on the left. You interact with it like any regular storage drive connected to your PC: You can put your files or folders in it by dragging and dropping them from another location, or by saving a document, image, or other file type to it from an application.
You can access OneDrive files and folders in File Explorer.
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When you put a file or folder into your OneDrive, it is synced to the cloud. If you delete a file or folder in your OneDrive, it’s deleted from the cloud as well.
If you change a file or folder and save it in OneDrive, the new version will replace the older version stored in the cloud. If you’re offline when you make changes, the newer version of the file or folder will be synced to the cloud when your PC connects to the internet again.
Make your OneDrive files or folders available offline
By default, a file in your OneDrive is downloaded to your PC when you select it to open or access it from an application — for example, when you use Microsoft Word to open a document stored in OneDrive.
What if you know you’ll need to access files or folders when you’re not connected to the internet? Before that happens, you can right-click any file or folder in your OneDrive, and from the menu that opens, select Always keep on this device. A copy of that file or folder (and the files inside this folder) is downloaded to your PC’s main storage drive, making it available offline.
To download a file or folder to your PC, right-click it and select Always keep on this device.
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You can also download all the files and folders in your OneDrive to your PC. Right-click your OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left; from the menu that opens, select Always keep on this device. But be aware that if you have a lot of files in your OneDrive, it may take a while for them to be all downloaded, especially if some are large in size.
To revert a downloaded file or folder to cloud-only, right-click it, and from the menu that appears, click Free up space. This frees up the space on your PC’s storage drive that the file or folder took up.
To change all files and folders in your OneDrive to cloud-only, right-click your OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left, and from the menu that opens, select OneDrive and Settings. On the panel that opens, click Sync and backup. Click Advanced settings to open more settings, and scroll down to “Files On-Demand.” Click the Free up disk space button.
Click Free up disk space to store all your OneDrive files in the cloud only.
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Understand the sync status of your files and folders in OneDrive
The sync status of files in your OneDrive is denoted with small icons beside their names.
A cloud: This file or folder is only in the cloud. It is not saved on your PC’s storage drive.
A green checkmark on a white circle: This file or folder is in the cloud and also saved on your PC’s storage drive. However, if you don’t access this file within a period of time (usually 30 days), then Windows will automatically revert it to cloud-only. (Refer to Microsoft’s guide for Storage Sense if you want to adjust or turn off this feature in Windows 10 or 11.)
A white checkmark on a green circle: This file or folder has been designated as Always keep on this device (as described in the previous section). Windows will not automatically revert it to cloud-only if you haven’t used it after a period of time.
Animated arrows: When a file or folder is in the process of syncing to the cloud, the icon by its name will have two arrows animating in a circular motion.
You can view a log of recent syncing actions done to files and folders in your OneDrive. Click the OneDrive icon on the notification area of the taskbar to open this log.
The OneDrive app shows recent activity for your OneDrive files and folders.
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Back up your Windows Desktop, Documents and/or Pictures folders to OneDrive
By default, files in the Windows Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders are backed up to folders with the same names in your OneDrive. When you’re using Word, for example, your document will be backed up to the Documents folder in OneDrive.
To turn this backup feature off or on, right-click your OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left in File Explorer. From the menu that opens, select OneDrive and Settings. On the panel that opens, click Sync and backup in the left column, and then the Manage backup button.
The panel that opens will show if the Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders on your Windows PC are being backed up to your OneDrive. You can click the toggle switch to the right of each folder name to turn backup for it off or on.
Use the toggles to tell OneDrive whether to back up the contents of your PC’s Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders to OneDrive.
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Hide your OneDrive folders from File Explorer
You can hide folders in your OneDrive from appearing in File Explorer. Right-click your OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left; from the menu that opens, select OneDrive and Settings.
On the panel that opens, click Account in the left column. Click the Choose folders button.
On the next panel that opens, uncheck the folders that you want to hide from appearing in File Explorer, and click the OK button.
Uncheck any OneDrive folders you don’t want to appear in File Explorer.
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Share files or folders in OneDrive for Windows
In File Explorer, right-click the file or folder in your OneDrive that you want to share. From the menu that opens, click OneDrive and select Share. The Share panel opens.
Note that if you’re using a Microsoft 365 account that’s owned by your company, the options for sharing a web link to a file or folder in your OneDrive may be restricted by your IT administrator. Users with individual Microsoft accounts may see slightly different screens and options than those shown here, but the sharing process is similar.
Share a file or folder with specific people
In the Share panel, you can invite specific people (either inside or outside of your organization) to access the file or folder in your OneDrive. Enter their email addresses in the first field. If they’re in your Outlook contacts, you can start typing their name and select from the suggestions that pop up.
Sharing and setting access permissions for a OneDrive file.
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Click the pencil icon to the right to change the access level to your file or folder. Depending on your Microsoft account or Microsoft 365 account, you may see some or all of these options:
Can edit: the people you’ve invited can view your file or folder (and its contents), download it, forward its link to others, and make changes to it (including contents in a folder). For example, if it’s a Word document, then a person viewing it can edit it with Word. This also means that when they edit your file or folder, their changes overwrite the original copy in your OneDrive.
Can view: invitees can view your file or folder, download it, and forward its link to others — but they can’t make changes to the original file or folder (or its contents) in your OneDrive.
Can’t download: invitees can view the file or folder but can’t download it.
You can also enter a brief message for the recipients to read, then click Send. An email will be sent to the recipients that contains a link to your file or folder that only they can open.
Share a file or folder with all co-workers
If, instead of inviting specific people, you want to share the file or folder with everyone in your organization, click the gear icon just to the right of the “Copy link” button at the bottom of the panel. A “Link settings” panel appears.
Under “Share the link with,” select People in [your organization name] to share the file or folder with all your co-workers.
In the “More settings” area below, you’ll see the same access permission options as on the main Share panel — so you can, for instance, change Can edit to Can view. After you’ve made your selections, click the Apply button. This returns you to the Share panel, where you can click Send to send the invitation email.
Share a file or folder via public link
Another way to share a OneDrive file or folder is with a public link. We strongly recommend not using this method with files or folders that contain sensitive data. (Some organizations turn off this capability.)
On the Share panel, you can click the Copy link button, and a link to your file or folder is copied to your PC clipboard. You can then share this link with other people — but before you do, it’s wise to think about sharing permissions. By default, anyone who clicks the public link can view your file or folder (and its contents), download it, forward the link to others, and make changes to the file or folder (including contents in a folder).
To change this access setting, click the gear icon just to the right of the “Copy link” button. This calls up the “Link settings” panel. In the “More settings” area, you can change the access permissions, set an expiration date after which the public link will no longer work, and/or password-protect the file or folder.
Use the “Link settings” panel to change who you invite and fine-tune access permissions.
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(Or, if you change your mind about sharing the link publicly, you can choose a different recipient group: people in your organization, people who already have access to the file or folder, or people you specifically invite.)
After you’ve made your selections, click the Apply button, which returns you to the Share panel.
Click the Copy link button. You can now share this link with other people by pasting it into a document, email, message, etc.
Note: For the quickest way to create a link to publicly share a file or folder in your OneDrive, right-click the file or folder, select OneDrive, and click Copy Link.
Stop or manage sharing for a file or folder
Right-click the file or folder in your OneDrive. From the menu that opens, click OneDrive and select Manage access. On the Manage Access panel that opens, you can click Stop sharing to stop sharing the file or folder completely.
You can manage access permissions or stop sharing a file or folder at any time.
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You can also manage the access permissions for any individual or group with access to the file. On the People tab, click the permission next to any person’s name to change it — for instance, from Can edit to Can view. You can do the same for groups by going to the Groups tab.
To manage shared links, click the Links tab. To stop sharing a public link, for example, simply click the trash can icon by the link. Or click the gear icon if you want to change the access settings for the file or folder.
This article was originally published in February 2018 and most recently updated in May 2024.
Microsoft’s cloud storage, OneDrive, is built into Windows 10 and 11. With it you can sync files on your Windows PC to the cloud and to your other Windows PCs, your smartphone or tablet (with the OneDrive app for Android, iPhone, or iPad installed), and even your Mac (via the OneDrive Mac app).
It’s handy for collaboration, too. You can share files or folders in your OneDrive with anyone by sending them a web link to it. If it’s a Microsoft Office file, then you and others can collaborate on it in real time in the Excel, PowerPoint, and Word web apps. Users with certain Microsoft 365 subscriptions can also use the desktop versions of these Office applications to work together on the file.
There are two main ways to access your files in OneDrive: in Windows via File Explorer, and through the OneDrive for Web app that you use in a browser. The files that you store in the Windows version of OneDrive can be simultaneously accessed in OneDrive for Web, and vice versa.
This guide explains how to work with OneDrive in Windows 10 and 11. OneDrive for Web will be covered in a separate guide, coming soon.
Get started with OneDrive
To use OneDrive, you need a Microsoft account. If your company uses Microsoft 365 or you have an Outlook.com account, then you have a Microsoft account. If not, you can sign up for one for free.
With a free Microsoft account, you get 5GB of OneDrive storage. You can upgrade to 100GB storage or more by subscribing to a Microsoft 365 plan, starting at $2 per month. Business customers can subscribe to a 1TB OneDrive for Business plan for $5 per user per month or opt for a Microsoft 365 plan. (See all the Microsoft 365 plans for home, small business, and enterprise use.)
Sign in to OneDrive in Windows
When you sign in to your Windows 10 or 11 PC with your Microsoft account, OneDrive is already activated by default.
Or if you prefer, you can sign in to OneDrive itself (separately from Windows’ sign-in) with a Microsoft account. On the notification area of the Windows taskbar, click the OneDrive icon (it looks like clouds with a slash over them), and click the Sign in button. You’ll be guided by the OneDrive notification app to sign in with your Microsoft account. (If you don’t see this icon, it’s probably hidden on your taskbar. Clicking the upward pointing arrow should reveal it.)
Signing in to OneDrive in Windows.
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This guide refers to how OneDrive functions when you sign in to OneDrive for Windows with a Microsoft 365 business account. But most things are the same if you use a free Microsoft account.
Store and sync files and folders to OneDrive in Windows
When you open File Explorer, OneDrive appears in the navigation pane on the left. You interact with it like any regular storage drive connected to your PC: You can put your files or folders in it by dragging and dropping them from another location, or by saving a document, image, or other file type to it from an application.
You can access OneDrive files and folders in File Explorer.
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When you put a file or folder into your OneDrive, it is synced to the cloud. If you delete a file or folder in your OneDrive, it’s deleted from the cloud as well.
If you change a file or folder and save it in OneDrive, the new version will replace the older version stored in the cloud. If you’re offline when you make changes, the newer version of the file or folder will be synced to the cloud when your PC connects to the internet again.
Make your OneDrive files or folders available offline
By default, a file in your OneDrive is downloaded to your PC when you select it to open or access it from an application — for example, when you use Microsoft Word to open a document stored in OneDrive.
What if you know you’ll need to access files or folders when you’re not connected to the internet? Before that happens, you can right-click any file or folder in your OneDrive, and from the menu that opens, select Always keep on this device. A copy of that file or folder (and the files inside this folder) is downloaded to your PC’s main storage drive, making it available offline.
To download a file or folder to your PC, right-click it and select Always keep on this device.
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You can also download all the files and folders in your OneDrive to your PC. Right-click your OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left; from the menu that opens, select Always keep on this device. But be aware that if you have a lot of files in your OneDrive, it may take a while for them to be all downloaded, especially if some are large in size.
To revert a downloaded file or folder to cloud-only, right-click it, and from the menu that appears, click Free up space. This frees up the space on your PC’s storage drive that the file or folder took up.
To change all files and folders in your OneDrive to cloud-only, right-click your OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left, and from the menu that opens, select OneDrive and Settings. On the panel that opens, click Sync and backup. Click Advanced settings to open more settings, and scroll down to “Files On-Demand.” Click the Free up disk space button.
Click Free up disk space to store all your OneDrive files in the cloud only.
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Understand the sync status of your files and folders in OneDrive
The sync status of files in your OneDrive is denoted with small icons beside their names.
A cloud: This file or folder is only in the cloud. It is not saved on your PC’s storage drive.
A green checkmark on a white circle: This file or folder is in the cloud and also saved on your PC’s storage drive. However, if you don’t access this file within a period of time (usually 30 days), then Windows will automatically revert it to cloud-only. (Refer to Microsoft’s guide for Storage Sense if you want to adjust or turn off this feature in Windows 10 or 11.)
A white checkmark on a green circle: This file or folder has been designated as Always keep on this device (as described in the previous section). Windows will not automatically revert it to cloud-only if you haven’t used it after a period of time.
Animated arrows: When a file or folder is in the process of syncing to the cloud, the icon by its name will have two arrows animating in a circular motion.
You can view a log of recent syncing actions done to files and folders in your OneDrive. Click the OneDrive icon on the notification area of the taskbar to open this log.
The OneDrive app shows recent activity for your OneDrive files and folders.
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Back up your Windows Desktop, Documents and/or Pictures folders to OneDrive
By default, files in the Windows Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders are backed up to folders with the same names in your OneDrive. When you’re using Word, for example, your document will be backed up to the Documents folder in OneDrive.
To turn this backup feature off or on, right-click your OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left in File Explorer. From the menu that opens, select OneDrive and Settings. On the panel that opens, click Sync and backup in the left column, and then the Manage backup button.
The panel that opens will show if the Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders on your Windows PC are being backed up to your OneDrive. You can click the toggle switch to the right of each folder name to turn backup for it off or on.
Use the toggles to tell OneDrive whether to back up the contents of your PC’s Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders to OneDrive.
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Hide your OneDrive folders from File Explorer
You can hide folders in your OneDrive from appearing in File Explorer. Right-click your OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left; from the menu that opens, select OneDrive and Settings.
On the panel that opens, click Account in the left column. Click the Choose folders button.
On the next panel that opens, uncheck the folders that you want to hide from appearing in File Explorer, and click the OK button.
Uncheck any OneDrive folders you don’t want to appear in File Explorer.
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Share files or folders in OneDrive for Windows
In File Explorer, right-click the file or folder in your OneDrive that you want to share. From the menu that opens, click OneDrive and select Share. The Share panel opens.
Note that if you’re using a Microsoft 365 account that’s owned by your company, the options for sharing a web link to a file or folder in your OneDrive may be restricted by your IT administrator. Users with individual Microsoft accounts may see slightly different screens and options than those shown here, but the sharing process is similar.
Share a file or folder with specific people
In the Share panel, you can invite specific people (either inside or outside of your organization) to access the file or folder in your OneDrive. Enter their email addresses in the first field. If they’re in your Outlook contacts, you can start typing their name and select from the suggestions that pop up.
Sharing and setting access permissions for a OneDrive file.
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Click the pencil icon to the right to change the access level to your file or folder. Depending on your Microsoft account or Microsoft 365 account, you may see some or all of these options:
Can edit: the people you’ve invited can view your file or folder (and its contents), download it, forward its link to others, and make changes to it (including contents in a folder). For example, if it’s a Word document, then a person viewing it can edit it with Word. This also means that when they edit your file or folder, their changes overwrite the original copy in your OneDrive.
Can view: invitees can view your file or folder, download it, and forward its link to others — but they can’t make changes to the original file or folder (or its contents) in your OneDrive.
Can’t download: invitees can view the file or folder but can’t download it.
You can also enter a brief message for the recipients to read, then click Send. An email will be sent to the recipients that contains a link to your file or folder that only they can open.
Share a file or folder with all co-workers
If, instead of inviting specific people, you want to share the file or folder with everyone in your organization, click the gear icon just to the right of the “Copy link” button at the bottom of the panel. A “Link settings” panel appears.
Under “Share the link with,” select People in [your organization name] to share the file or folder with all your co-workers.
In the “More settings” area below, you’ll see the same access permission options as on the main Share panel — so you can, for instance, change Can edit to Can view. After you’ve made your selections, click the Apply button. This returns you to the Share panel, where you can click Send to send the invitation email.
Share a file or folder via public link
Another way to share a OneDrive file or folder is with a public link. We strongly recommend not using this method with files or folders that contain sensitive data. (Some organizations turn off this capability.)
On the Share panel, you can click the Copy link button, and a link to your file or folder is copied to your PC clipboard. You can then share this link with other people — but before you do, it’s wise to think about sharing permissions. By default, anyone who clicks the public link can view your file or folder (and its contents), download it, forward the link to others, and make changes to the file or folder (including contents in a folder).
To change this access setting, click the gear icon just to the right of the “Copy link” button. This calls up the “Link settings” panel. In the “More settings” area, you can change the access permissions, set an expiration date after which the public link will no longer work, and/or password-protect the file or folder.
Use the “Link settings” panel to change who you invite and fine-tune access permissions.
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(Or, if you change your mind about sharing the link publicly, you can choose a different recipient group: people in your organization, people who already have access to the file or folder, or people you specifically invite.)
After you’ve made your selections, click the Apply button, which returns you to the Share panel.
Click the Copy link button. You can now share this link with other people by pasting it into a document, email, message, etc.
Note: For the quickest way to create a link to publicly share a file or folder in your OneDrive, right-click the file or folder, select OneDrive, and click Copy Link.
Stop or manage sharing for a file or folder
Right-click the file or folder in your OneDrive. From the menu that opens, click OneDrive and select Manage access. On the Manage Access panel that opens, you can click Stop sharing to stop sharing the file or folder completely.
You can manage access permissions or stop sharing a file or folder at any time.
IDG
You can also manage the access permissions for any individual or group with access to the file. On the People tab, click the permission next to any person’s name to change it — for instance, from Can edit to Can view. You can do the same for groups by going to the Groups tab.
To manage shared links, click the Links tab. To stop sharing a public link, for example, simply click the trash can icon by the link. Or click the gear icon if you want to change the access settings for the file or folder.
This article was originally published in February 2018 and most recently updated in May 2024.
Ongoing changes Apple and others are making to the manufacturing supply chain are being reflected internationally as some plants close down and new ones appear elsewhere. This is also likely to see a spate of M&A activity as some existing big names in manufacturing seek to set up shop on new shores.
All change on the factory floor
The root of these changes first became visible when US firms turned against China at about the same time Chinese workers began to demand more money for what they do. The pace of change accelerated with Covid, as corporations including Apple found they needed to build in more resilience to cope with sudden factory shutdowns and disease outbreaks. Today we’re seeing major manufacturers invest more cash in new places — India leads the pack, but Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia are in the frame.
We’re also seeing manufacturing shift between more traditional nations.
In the UK, the national shame of Brexit continues to impact international trade, and one victim of this may be Apple’s Face ID sensor supplier, Coherent.
I don’t know, but it’s not terribly hard to imagine that the additional costs and shipping challenges posed by purchasing and making important iPhone components in the UK for shipping abroad caused problems in the supply chain as additional excise protections and tariffs kicked in. That may not be the motivation in play, but Apple appears to have designed those chips out in future iPhones all the same.
New centers are emerging
Italy is making progress. Apple partner STMicroelectronics will build the world’s first fully integrated silicon carbide (SiC) facility there for a $5 billion investment.
The company says this is aimed at automotive and industrial customers and points to SiCs’ improved thermal conductivity, which makes for better energy efficiency.
No mention of Apple is made, but it is clear that the need for energy efficiency is something that unites technology customers across the entire industry, and the iPhone maker continues work toward that end.
Those goals mean that even Apple and its partners with their huge iPhone factories need to be made more energy efficient, right? This matters on a planet on which Apple supplier Foxconn was recently asked to cut its energy use by 30% in Vietnam. The nation experienced dramatic power cuts last year following a heat wave and is attempting to avoid that in future.
In India, Apple’s work to bring key suppliers to building iPhone manufacturing facilities is now widely known. This is an accelerated project, and the nation is expected to be making at least 25% of all iPhones within the next year or so, mostly through Taiwanese firms based there. India’s giant Tata group has also grabbed a slice of Apple’s pie.
Apple partners are also expanding into the other hot spots such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. We’re seeing Macs and other Apple products manufactured in those places, in addition to — and sometimes instead of — China.
China takes its slice
But China isn’t sitting still. Large Chinese firms are also investing in manufacturing across Southeast Asia. Big names including Goertek, BYD, and Luxshare are also setting up shop. Apple’s own suppliers list confirms that around a third of its 35 suppliers in Vietnam are owned by Chinese firms. Like Apple, which will open its first Malaysian retail store in Kuala Lumpur on June 22, they are chasing growth as more traditional markets (China and elsewhere) experience slowdown.
This expansion in manufacturing across the region poses additional problems. We alluded to infrastructure in the form energy supply earlier, but competition for staff and land is also intensifying, which may push local suppliers out of the way — or prime them for future acquisition by larger firms with deeper pockets as the tech industry supply chain morphs into this new shape.
Final thought?
Apple wasn’t alone when it began building up its business in emerging economies, but the well-heeled company hasn’t wasted its early start and at this point has the catbird seat for further expansion as those markets continue to grow. And it didn’t take a generative AI chatbot to plan any of these moves.
Multitasking is magnificent. But in the domain of your weary ol’ web browser, it’s all too easy to get overwhelmed and overloaded when you start juggling too many tabs.
For me, this virtual labyrinth takes shape when I aim my overly moist eye spheres at a web page — say, an alluring article by an adjective-appreciating, Android-minded mammal of some sort — and I’m then inspired to look at a link within that article, to peek at another riveting resource of some sort. That’s when my tab jungle starts growing and I either lose track of what I was originally reading or end up with a backlog of tabs I never get around to ingesting.
The Android Chrome app has an awesome answer for this productivity puzzle: The app sports an easily overlooked option to preview a link while you’re viewing another web page. It’s thoroughly tucked away and hidden out of sight, but once you get yourself in the habit of using it, it’s one of the browser’s best multitasking tricks.
It takes Google’s core concept and cranks up the productivity power considerably — and it works in virtually any desktop browser, too, in case Chrome isn’t your top choice.
Trust me: Once you try this web-working wonder, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
[Uncover all sorts of awesome productivity-enhancing supertools with my free Cool Tools newsletter. A new off-the-beaten-path tech treasure every Wednesday!]
Google Chrome, enhanced: Your new secret web work weapon
The secret to seizing that Android inspiration and sprucing up your desktop web workflow is a saucy little somethin’ called MaxFocus.
MaxFocus is a simple extension for the computer version of Chrome — as well as Edge or Firefox, if those are your cups of cocoa — that takes Google’s existing link-preview philosophy to dizzying new heights.
By default, once you have it added into whichever browser you prefer, it empowers you to long-click on any link in any page — to click and then hold down your mouse button or finger on the trackpad for a second, in other words — to summon an in-page preview of the link without leaving the original page that you were already viewing.
See?
srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?quality=50&strip=all 600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=300%2C196&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=257%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 257w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=129%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 129w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=551%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 551w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=383%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 383w" width="600" height="392" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px">A pop-up link preview, courtesy of the Chrome MaxFocus add-on.
JR Raphael, IDG
You can use it for taking a quick gander at a link without interrupting your workflow while reading regular ol’ articles on the web, of course, but you could also use it for feats like viewing a linked YouTube video in-line within a page, previewing results from a search query (be they in Google or anywhere else) without having to open up a zillion tabs, or viewing any manner of links in-context while working on a Google Docs document, a Notion database, or an email in your inbox.
Conceptually, it’s almost exactly the same as Google’s still-under-development Chrome equivalent. But aside from working in Edge and Firefox in addition to Chrome, it’s much more polished and fully featured, and it offers some interesting extra options that could save you some serious time.
To wit:
The overlay for any page you open as a preview can be resized and placed anywhere within your browser window.
srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?quality=50&strip=all 600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=300%2C196&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=257%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 257w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=129%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 129w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=551%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 551w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=383%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 383w" width="600" height="392" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px">You can move and resize a link preview with MaxFocus’s Chrome (or Edge or Firefox) browser enhancement.
JR Raphael, IDG
Your overlay can be opened in a full-screen form, too, while still leaving your original page open and available beneath it within the same tab.
You can customize and change the pop-up opening mechanism — if, for instance, you’d rather have links automatically open in previews anytime you hover over ’em for a certain amount of time or anytime you click ’em while also pressing a specific key sequence (like Alt or Ctrl and Shift together).
You can click a pushpin icon to pin a link preview overlay in place and have it remain there in all of your Chrome/Firefox/Edge tabs, even as you open new ones.
If you want to move a page from a pop-up into its own tab, you can click its link in the lower-left corner of the overlay to do so (a possibility that’s vexingly missing in Google’s current Chrome version of this concept!). You can also find and copy the page’s URL in this same way.
If the page you’re previewing is a touch too cluttered for your taste, you can switch it over into a distraction-free reading mode with a single click — with no ads or other interruptions and with simple, consistent fonts and a customizable color scheme of your choosing.
srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?quality=50&strip=all 600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=300%2C197&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=150%2C100&quality=50&strip=all 150w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=256%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 256w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=128%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 128w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=548%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 548w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=381%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 381w" width="600" height="394" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px">One click, and boom: Any page in your preview is transformed into a clutter-free reading delight.
JR Raphael, IDG
And, last but not least, if you opt for the service’s premium Pro upgrade, you can access an AI assistant at the bottom of every page preview overlay. That lets you summarize the page on demand, get a list of key points or related links for further reading, and even ask specific questions about the information in the associated article or resource.
An AI assistant is always at the ready within your link previews, if you opt for the service’s premium path.
JR Raphael, IDG
MaxFocus is perfectly functional in its free form, and all of its basic features work quite well in that context. The Pro upgrade does add in some interesting extras beyond the AI elements, though, including the options to create site-specific pop-up positions and to customize the appearance of your link preview pop-ups. Perhaps most intriguing, the developer says the Pro version will soon include the option to open multiple page-preview pop-ups at once so you can easily “compare and contrast different sources and perspectives” within the same single tab setup.
That Pro version costs 18 bucks a year or $25 for lifetime access — but, again, all the core features around the link previewing work even in the regular free form, without any obnoxious ads or limitations littered into the mix.
On that note, MaxFocus says it doesn’t collect or so much as see any personal info or browsing data. The privacy policy is refreshingly short and unambiguous about that.
All in all, it’s quite the enticing efficiency upgrade and a welcome complement to our Android-based Chrome page-peeking possibility. It feels like a native part of the desktop browsing experience and something that should just exist for everyone in that environment — and that, more than anything, speaks volumes about how well-crafted and thoughtfully inspired it is.
Love discovering useful new productivity boosters? Check out my Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an AI-powered supertool that transcribes your brain — and another new off-the-beaten-path gem every Wednesday!
Multitasking is magnificent. But in the domain of your weary ol’ web browser, it’s all too easy to get overwhelmed and overloaded when you start juggling too many tabs.
For me, this virtual labyrinth takes shape when I aim my overly moist eye spheres at a web page — say, an alluring article by an adjective-appreciating, Android-minded mammal of some sort — and I’m then inspired to look at a link within that article, to peek at another riveting resource of some sort. That’s when my tab jungle starts growing and I either lose track of what I was originally reading or end up with a backlog of tabs I never get around to ingesting.
The Android Chrome app has an awesome answer for this productivity puzzle: The app sports an easily overlooked option to preview a link while you’re viewing another web page. It’s thoroughly tucked away and hidden out of sight, but once you get yourself in the habit of using it, it’s one of the browser’s best multitasking tricks.
It takes Google’s core concept and cranks up the productivity power considerably — and it works in virtually any desktop browser, too, in case Chrome isn’t your top choice.
Trust me: Once you try this web-working wonder, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
[Uncover all sorts of awesome productivity-enhancing supertools with my free Cool Tools newsletter. A new off-the-beaten-path tech treasure every Wednesday!]
Google Chrome, enhanced: Your new secret web work weapon
The secret to seizing that Android inspiration and sprucing up your desktop web workflow is a saucy little somethin’ called MaxFocus.
MaxFocus is a simple extension for the computer version of Chrome — as well as Edge or Firefox, if those are your cups of cocoa — that takes Google’s existing link-preview philosophy to dizzying new heights.
By default, once you have it added into whichever browser you prefer, it empowers you to long-click on any link in any page — to click and then hold down your mouse button or finger on the trackpad for a second, in other words — to summon an in-page preview of the link without leaving the original page that you were already viewing.
See?
srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?quality=50&strip=all 600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=300%2C196&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=257%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 257w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=129%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 129w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=551%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 551w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/01-google-chrome-link-preview.webp?resize=383%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 383w" width="600" height="392" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px">A pop-up link preview, courtesy of the Chrome MaxFocus add-on.
JR Raphael, IDG
You can use it for taking a quick gander at a link without interrupting your workflow while reading regular ol’ articles on the web, of course, but you could also use it for feats like viewing a linked YouTube video in-line within a page, previewing results from a search query (be they in Google or anywhere else) without having to open up a zillion tabs, or viewing any manner of links in-context while working on a Google Docs document, a Notion database, or an email in your inbox.
Conceptually, it’s almost exactly the same as Google’s still-under-development Chrome equivalent. But aside from working in Edge and Firefox in addition to Chrome, it’s much more polished and fully featured, and it offers some interesting extra options that could save you some serious time.
To wit:
The overlay for any page you open as a preview can be resized and placed anywhere within your browser window.
srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?quality=50&strip=all 600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=300%2C196&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=257%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 257w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=129%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 129w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=551%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 551w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/02-google-chrome-link-preview-move-resize.webp?resize=383%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 383w" width="600" height="392" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px">You can move and resize a link preview with MaxFocus’s Chrome (or Edge or Firefox) browser enhancement.
JR Raphael, IDG
Your overlay can be opened in a full-screen form, too, while still leaving your original page open and available beneath it within the same tab.
You can customize and change the pop-up opening mechanism — if, for instance, you’d rather have links automatically open in previews anytime you hover over ’em for a certain amount of time or anytime you click ’em while also pressing a specific key sequence (like Alt or Ctrl and Shift together).
You can click a pushpin icon to pin a link preview overlay in place and have it remain there in all of your Chrome/Firefox/Edge tabs, even as you open new ones.
If you want to move a page from a pop-up into its own tab, you can click its link in the lower-left corner of the overlay to do so (a possibility that’s vexingly missing in Google’s current Chrome version of this concept!). You can also find and copy the page’s URL in this same way.
If the page you’re previewing is a touch too cluttered for your taste, you can switch it over into a distraction-free reading mode with a single click — with no ads or other interruptions and with simple, consistent fonts and a customizable color scheme of your choosing.
srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?quality=50&strip=all 600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=300%2C197&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=150%2C100&quality=50&strip=all 150w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=256%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 256w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=128%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 128w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=548%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 548w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/03-google-chrome-link-preview-reader-mode.webp?resize=381%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 381w" width="600" height="394" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px">One click, and boom: Any page in your preview is transformed into a clutter-free reading delight.
JR Raphael, IDG
And, last but not least, if you opt for the service’s premium Pro upgrade, you can access an AI assistant at the bottom of every page preview overlay. That lets you summarize the page on demand, get a list of key points or related links for further reading, and even ask specific questions about the information in the associated article or resource.
An AI assistant is always at the ready within your link previews, if you opt for the service’s premium path.
JR Raphael, IDG
MaxFocus is perfectly functional in its free form, and all of its basic features work quite well in that context. The Pro upgrade does add in some interesting extras beyond the AI elements, though, including the options to create site-specific pop-up positions and to customize the appearance of your link preview pop-ups. Perhaps most intriguing, the developer says the Pro version will soon include the option to open multiple page-preview pop-ups at once so you can easily “compare and contrast different sources and perspectives” within the same single tab setup.
That Pro version costs 18 bucks a year or $25 for lifetime access — but, again, all the core features around the link previewing work even in the regular free form, without any obnoxious ads or limitations littered into the mix.
On that note, MaxFocus says it doesn’t collect or so much as see any personal info or browsing data. The privacy policy is refreshingly short and unambiguous about that.
All in all, it’s quite the enticing efficiency upgrade and a welcome complement to our Android-based Chrome page-peeking possibility. It feels like a native part of the desktop browsing experience and something that should just exist for everyone in that environment — and that, more than anything, speaks volumes about how well-crafted and thoughtfully inspired it is.
Love discovering useful new productivity boosters? Check out my Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an AI-powered supertool that transcribes your brain — and another new off-the-beaten-path gem every Wednesday!
China has launched an ambitious three-year plan to establish itself as a global leader in AI and computing standards. The initiative, “Action Plan for Information Standard Construction (2024-2027),” outlines a comprehensive strategy to strengthen China’s position in the ongoing tech race with the US and other nations.
The plan, spearheaded by China’s Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, focuses on strengthening research and developing standards for advanced chips, computing power infrastructure, quantum technology applications, brain-computer interfaces, and AI, according to an official document published by Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission.
“The Action Plan emphasizes that information technology standards are an important part of the national standards system and an important support for high-quality development driven by information technology,” the Commission said.
“By 2027, the information technology standard working mechanism will be more sound, the layout of the information technology standard system will be more complete, a batch of high-quality information technology standards will be released, the quality of standards will be significantly improved, the implementation effect will be significantly enhanced, the role of information technology standards in leading technological innovation and driving economic and social development will be fully played, and the contribution and influence of international standards will be significantly improved,” the Commission added.
The plan places AI at the center of this mission, recognizing its role as a game-changer.
A key component of the plan is the development of “general, foundational, ethical, security and privacy standards” for large AI models and generative AI, the document added. It also aims to promote the construction of blockchain standards and the development of cross-chain interoperability and smart contract technology standards. Besides, advanced standards in important application and service fields such as cloud computing, cloud-native, distributed cloud, edge cloud, cloud-network integration, cloud applications, intelligent service, and other areas are also in focus.
The plan also intends to “promote the standardization of quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum measurement, and other key technologies, develop standards for brain-computer interfaces, enhance research on input-output, brain information decoding algorithms, brain information security, privacy protection, and related technologies and applications.”
The move is intended to address the current gaps and inefficiencies in applying standards within various government agencies.
From the information technology standards perspective, the statement said that the government faces a series of “shortcomings” such as “lack of coordination across departments and fields, and conflict of standards.”
The implementation of standards is not effective, and the phenomenon of focusing on research and development and neglecting application is still obvious; the influence of international standards work is insufficient, and the professional level, depth of participation, and quality of contribution need to be improved,” the commission added.
The action plan calls for the creation of a cohesive system that integrates computing, storage, telecommunication, and operational capabilities, reflecting the need for seamless technological integration.
China’s push for high-tech self-reliance is seen as a crucial step in transforming its economy due to mounting economic challenges and ongoing US sanctions on key technologies. Last week, the country established a massive $47 billion fund to bolster its chip industry, which is seen as a countermeasure against US efforts to limit China’s access to advanced chip technology.
China’s ambitious plan to set the global agenda for technology standards represents a significant step in the ongoing global competition for technological dominance.
I don’t think NBC ever considered a show called ‘Frenemies,’ but if the broadcaster had done so, the script could echo imminent tension as Apple and Microsoft both cozy up to OpenAI and ChatGPT. It’s an open relationship that doesn’t appear to be making the Windows maker happy.
Microsoft is apprehensive because it has now sewn ChatGPT tightly within Microsoft Copilot — and the company’s entire ecosystem. Microsoft partners such as Orange Business are also in the picture, offering their own services around Copilot. Like ‘that’ episode of Friends, this ménage à trois is already a little crowded.
Disapproval comes straight from Microsoft’s C-suite. CEO Satya Nadella has reportedly met with Altman to discuss his concerns, particularly around QoS (Quality of Service) levels. Microsoft is worried that OpenAI’s servers will be unable to handle the quantity of requests generated when hundreds of millions of Apple users query ChatGPT, and that this may impact its own customers.
Microsoft has cause to feel protective. The company has pumped billions ($13b) into its Sam Altman-led AI partner, despite growing concerns about “safety and processes” at the firm. Apparently, the PC OS vendor now wants a slice of any revenue OpenAI generates as a result of the not-so-secret deal it has allegedly reached with Apple.
Zooming out
At the same time, OpenAI benefits from offering its services via all established platforms, as failing to do so could easily be construed as anti-competitive — even though Apple and Microsoft effectively compete using ChatGPT-like services, frenemy style. Microsoft fears it will lose its competitive edge, and Apple meanwhile continues to develop its own unique AI approaches, particularly around vision intelligence, spatial computing, and (of course) data privacy.
OpenAI is expected to drive some, but not all, of the AI features Apple plans to introduce — improved contextual understanding in Siri may be one of those. It is therefore quite telling that The Information claims Apple wants to make it transparent to customers when they are making use of OpenAI.
We also believe Apple is working to introduce unique AI tools that work entirely on the device, as well as server-side solutions heavily protected by iCloud privacy and encryption technologies.
Rocks in the road
There are some challenges that may yet sour the relationships Apple and Microsoft have with OpenAI, not least the frequently voiced claims that safety, security, and potential baked-in bias are not being correctly managed by the AI company.
That’s a concern professionals across the AI industry have always understood. Even Apple’s former senior director of machine learning and artificial intelligence, Carlos Guestrin, warned that poorly managed data can deliver very bad results.
This is likely why Apple, which has been working in AI far longer than so many reporters seem to believe, has been proceeding slowly and deliberately. Tech is meant to make things better, not worse. You only need to look at the impact of the dark side of social media to see what happens when strong controls are not in place.
Chef’s kiss
All that aside, Apple’s response seems to have been to work in partnership with OpenAI, and — if the report is to be believed — to put transparency guards in place so people know where responses come from.
The company may also be working to offer users a choice of genAI service providers, but nothing to that effect has been strenuously claimed.
And always in the background, Apple’s own AI teams are working on something of their own, designed to capitalize on what noted financial analyst Keith Fitz-Gerald says will be “another iPhone moment” as Apple puts AI inside the iPhone.
South Korea’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission has opened an official investigation after two employees at a Samsung semiconductor facility in Giheung were exposed to radiation.
In a statement, the Commission said it is probing the incident that occurred on May 27 and has suspended the use of the equipment in question.
The investigation aims to identify the cause of the exposure and assess any potential safety protocol breaches.
The two affected individuals exhibit symptoms typical of localized radiation exposure, but preliminary blood tests have shown no chromosomal abnormalities, the Commission added.
The Commission will assess the exact radiation levels at the Giheung facility as part of its response. Should any safety law violations be discovered, administrative measures will be implemented.
Impact on operations and supply chain
An incident like this can lead to an immediate production halt for safety checks and investigations, slowing down or stopping processes involving X-rays, according to Manish Rawat, semiconductor analyst at Techinsights.
“This could delay existing order deliveries, impacting Samsung’s ability to meet semiconductor chip deadlines,” Rawat said. “To mitigate this, Samsung may redistribute production tasks to other facilities, potentially overloading them and affecting efficiency and output. Furthermore, additional safety inspections and enhanced protocols could create bottlenecks, further disrupting production.”
Such a potential disruption in Samsung’s semiconductor production could lead to multifaceted challenges.
“Firstly, suppliers dependent on Samsung’s consistent output may face hurdles in maintaining their own schedules, potentially straining supplier relationships,” Rawat said. “Secondly, customers in sectors heavily reliant on timely semiconductor chip deliveries, such as automotive, consumer electronics, and telecommunications, risk production delays. This may result in dissatisfaction among customers, jeopardizing long-term business relationships and trust.”
Potential for more scrutiny
The incident further highlights the inherent risks associated with semiconductor manufacturing and could raise concerns among suppliers and customers regarding Samsung’s risk management capabilities.
The potential impact on production also prompts questions about the robustness of safety measures and contingency planning within the industry, according to Rawat.
“Overall, the disruption in Samsung’s production chain not only affects its immediate stakeholders but also highlights broader issues regarding supply chain resilience and the management of reputational risks in the semiconductor industry,” Rawat said.
This could prompt more scrutiny and demands for transparency from business partners. Several measures may be proposed to mitigate future supply chain risks, encompassing key areas.
“Firstly, worker safety enhancements include regular safety audits to identify and mitigate risks, comprehensive training programs on safety protocols, and advanced monitoring systems for real-time hazard detection,” Rawat said. “Secondly, ensuring regulatory compliance involves strengthening compliance programs to meet local and international safety standards. Transparent reporting of incidents to regulatory bodies demonstrates a commitment to safety and compliance.”
Located south of Seoul, the Giheung fab, established in 1983, specializes in manufacturing mainstream nodes ranging from 350nm to 8nm, according to Samsung’s website. Besides Giheung, the company operates two other manufacturing plants in South Korea — the Hwaseong fab, which handles production processes from 10nm to 3nm, and the Pyeongtaek fab, which focuses on more advanced nodes.
