Let’s Recap:
- HR Platform Gust releases an AI teammate
- Zoom introduces new AI tools to make meetings more productive
- President Trump signs an AI executive order
- The FBI warns of new cyberthreats
- YouTube is doing a better job labelling AI-created videos
Gusto is moving towards natural language reporting and agents and we’re just getting started.
HR platform Gusto recently announced Cofounder – a new AI teammate designed to help small businesses automate key operational tasks. According to the company, the AI launches “with context from Gusto and customer-authorized connected tools,” and will help business owners with running payroll; tracking compliance deadlines; identifying items that need approval; managing workflows and more. Users will be able to interact with Cofounder using natural language. Source: PR Newswire)
Why this is important for your small business:
More platforms like Gusto are incorporating AI tools within their applications so users can use natural language to query data instead of generating reports. This is great. The next step – which is not too far away – is using agentic AI to perform tasks based on natural language requests from employees. These are great productivity tools and employees need to learn how to use them.
Zoom launches more AI productivity tools and I’m still not using them. Why?
On Monday Zoom launched its AI productivity suite. According to details, the suite includes Zoom Canvas (formerly Zoom Docs); Zoom Slides; Zoom Sheets; and Zoom Paper. With AI productivity suite, teams can utilize context from meetings for follow-up reports or presentations; update documents automatically when decisions change; and generate spreadsheets and analysis from meeting data. AI productivity suite gives users an all-in-one tool to harness information and produce work products from conversations. Russell Dicker, Zoom’s chief product officer said, “The AI Productivity Suite helps teams move from conversations to completion by turning meeting context into actionable work, without forcing users to reconstruct information across disconnected tools.” (Source: Zoom)
Why this is important for your small business:
When I read reports like this I admit that I need to take a spoonful of my own medicine. I’m telling all my clients they and their employees need to lean into their AI applications, get training and work with the AI tools provided by their core application vendors in order to increase productivity. My firm is a user of Zoom and we’re not using any of this stuff! So I’ll commit – in writing – that I will over the upcoming weeks.
President Trump responds to critics and signs an AI executive order. But it’s not that much.
President Trump has signed an executive order that authorizes government oversight over new AI technologies, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to details, technology companies will allow government access to AI models for a 30-day review before they’re released to the public. The latest is a revised version of the May 21 order that stipulated a 90-day review. According to sources, a meeting was held on Monday in the Oval Office where President Trump shortened the window for model review. This points to the delicate balancing act the Trump Administration has with the tech industry in terms of how much oversight is enforced. AI adviser David Sacks said that the executive order is “a game changer” because it allows tech labs to comply with a “voluntary framework.”
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
Why this is important for your small business:
Will “allow” but not require? And will this shortened window really make a difference? As new AI models are introduced, government will continue to have a difficult time keeping up and those models may be generating hallucinatory information well before the government can stop them. This executive order adds to a growing number of state legislation curtaining AI development. For now, this is primarily impacting the makers of AI software, not the users. Regardless, if you’re using AI in your business it’s important to check with your technical and legal resources to ensure that this usage isn’t violating any existing or pending regulations.
Why this is important for your small business:
In its announcement, the FBI outlined how the attack works: Victims receive a phishing email that appears to come from a trusted sender such as Microsoft. The email instructs them to visit a legitimate Microsoft login page and enter a device code. Once entered, the victim unknowingly authorizes the attacker’s device. The attacker captures authentication tokens that provide ongoing access to the victim’s Microsoft 365 account. This threatens not only individuals but many small businesses that rely on Microsoft 365. To read what the FBI is recommending people do to protect themselves click on the “Federal Bureau of Investigation is Warning” link.
YouTube is trying to warn its community about fake videos.
Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today reported on YouTube’s latest move to make its AI-content disclosures more visible. With the proliferation of AI-driven/deepfake content, the update is designed to help viewers identify content that has been significantly created or modified using AI. Previously, these disclosures were harder to locate and will now either contain an AI label beneath the video player (long-form videos) or have an AI disclosure overlay on the video itself (shorts). Additionally, the platform requires users to tag any videos that were made using AI and if they neglect to do so, YouTube has reported that it has an improved AI scanning tool. “If a creator doesn’t specify whether or not they used AI, but our systems detect [AI], we will now automatically apply a label,” YouTube said. (Source: Social Media Today)
Why this is important for your small business:
YouTube has to do something about this problem. But I’m not convinced they’ll really solve it.
Note: Have a technology story that small business owners should know about? Don’t mind me sharing my opinion? Share it with me on X @genemarks.
